Book Review: UNCLE SILAS (1864) by J. S. Le Fanu **** out of *****

(c) Penguin Classics

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was a master of Gothic horror and suspense. Henry James and M. R. James were both admirers of his work, and his vampire novella Carmilla (1872) is considered one of the most influential horror stories ever written, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula by decades. Most of Le Fanu's work is either forgotten or dismissed now, which is unfortunate, since he was a good prose stylist, and a master of atmosphere.

Uncle Silas (1864) is considered by many, including M. R. James, to be Le Fanu's masterpiece. While that is arguable, Uncle Silas is indeed one of Le Fanu's best, as it features all of the main ingredients of his special brew: a likable heroine; terrifying villains; plenty of intrigue; and an incomparable mastery of atmosphere.

It tells the tale of an adolescent girl named Maud Ruthyn, an heiress living with her reclusive father, Austin Ruthyn, in their mansion at Knowl. After her father's sudden death, she becomes the ward of her uncle, Silas Ruthyn, a once infamous gambler, and who now claims to be a devout Christian, living a quiet, secluded life in his mansion, Bartram-Haugh. But soon after moving in with him, Maud begins to sense that something is amiss, with her uncle Silas behaving strangely, even sinisterly, while Bartram-Haugh, with its history of murder, seems to be haunted by an air of menace and evil.

As is obvious from this synopsis, the plot is typical of the “sensational Gothic” novels of the time. But the plot isn't really the main attraction here, although it is well constructed and intriguing enough. What grips the reader and makes the novel near unputdownable despite its creaky characterizations and often distracting Gothic melodramatics, is Le Fanu's complete command of mood and his uncanny ability to suggest terrifying things with nary a wasted word. Below the surface of this seemingly dated story is plenty of bite. Using the Gothic melodrama as his launching pad, Le Faun touches upon such topics as child abuse, psychological torture, sadism, religious hypocrisy, and absolute evil. Although Maud, and, to a lesser extent, her young cousin Milly, are likable, sympathetic heroines, it is the villains that linger in the memory: Madame de la Rougierre, a despicable, twisted governess who takes pleasure in torturing Maud; and Uncle Silas, a strange, imposing, and almost supernatural figure, whose passive malice is a terrible marvel to behold, as it unfolds chapter after chapter. And, like Dracula in Stoker's classic, Le Fanu keeps his main villain off the page for most of the novel's duration, with each appearance being more disturbing than the one before it.

Then there's the climax, which M. R. James described as one that “can hardly be forgotten.” While I don't agree with Mr. James on the potency of the ending, which I felt was a bit rushed, Le Fanu still makes it work, with a nighttime murder that, despite being hardly surprising, is brutal and disturbing. But again, the plot, including its conclusion, isn't really the thing with Uncle Silas. It is the journey that Le Fanu takes us through, page after page, chapter after chapter, that is darkly enjoyable, like an expertly guided tour of a haunted house. Or a haunted mind.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

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Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer