Tales of the Wild and the Wonderful [1825]

"Tales of the Wild and the Wonderful" by Mary Diana Dods is a collection of short stories written in the early 19th century. The volume promises to entertain with a variety of tales, including original narratives and adaptations of fairy tales, exploring themes of fate, superstition, and the consequences of predictions. The opening story introduces intriguing characters, particularly Rhys Meredith, who possesses an enigmatic ability to predict the future, and Ruth Tudor, a beautiful maiden caught in his foreboding fate. At the start of the book, the narrator engages the reader with a preamble, acknowledging their potential skepticism regarding the originality of the stories. This is followed by the tale of a secluded Welsh village where Rhys Meredith, a mysterious and moody figure, becomes a source of both admiration and fear due to his prophetic abilities. Ruth Tudor, a vibrant young woman, initially dismisses his predictions but soon finds herself ensnared in a web of fate predicted by Rhys. As the narrative unfolds, it explores Ruth's internal struggle against her foreseen doom, showcasing her transition from confidence to despair after she is marked by a dire prophecy. The tension builds as her fate becomes linked to Rhys's darker intentions, leading to a tragic confrontation that propels the story into a complex exploration of destiny and moral consequences. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Walter Sholto Douglas (1790–1830), born under the name Mary Diana Dods, was a Scottish writer of books, stories and other works. Despite being assigned a female identity, Douglas lived as a man in his private, public, and work life. Most of his works appeared under the pseudonym David Lyndsay. His name may have been partly inspired by his grandfather's name, Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton. He was a close friend and confidant of Mary Shelley, and the husband of Isabella Robinson. In 1980, scholar Betty T. Bennett sensationally outed Douglas, connecting his deadname with his writing pseudonym.