Tales for Christmas Eve

"Tales for Christmas Eve" by Rhoda Broughton is a collection of stories written in the late 19th century. The opening portion introduces readers to a lively exchange of letters between two friends, Mrs. De Wynt and Mrs. Montresor, as they navigate social situations in London and hint at supernatural elements. The discussions revolve around their experiences in a new residence and the eerie happenings associated with the house, setting a tone that combines humor with a hint of suspense. At the start of the collection, the characters exchange letters filled with anecdotal observations and personal woes. Mrs. De Wynt eagerly finds a beautiful but suspiciously cheap home for her friend and her husband, while Mrs. Montresor recounts chilling occurrences that suggest their new dwelling may be haunted. The main tension builds around the haunting implications of the house when one of the characters experiences a supernatural phenomenon, leaving her in utter distress. This opening effectively sets the stage for a blend of light-hearted communication and an underlying sense of dread, alluring readers who enjoy a combination of wit and the supernatural. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Rhoda Broughton was a Welsh novelist and short story writer. Her early novels earned a reputation for sensationalism, so that her later, stronger work tended to be neglected by critics, although she was called a queen of the circulating libraries. Her novel Dear Faustina (1897) has been noted for its homoeroticism. Her novel Lavinia (1902) depicts a seemingly "unmanly" young man, who wishes he had been born as a woman. Broughton descended from the Broughton baronets, as a granddaughter of the 8th baronet. She was a niece of Sheridan le Fanu, who helped her to start her literary career. She was a long-time friend of fellow writer Henry James and was noted for her adversarial relationship with both Lewis Carroll and Oscar Wilde.