The Black Abbot

About the book

The Earl of Chelford reacts violently to reports of a spectral Black Abbot, insisting that his servants cease discussing the figure said to haunt the estate. His brother Dick manages practical affairs around a household in which private correspondence, romantic ambitions, and the prospect of treasure give several people reasons to conceal their intentions. The apparent supernatural threat therefore enters a situation already charged with more ordinary forms of danger. Wallace moves briskly between conversations, suspicious movements, and the uneasy relations of people who know different portions of the past. Leslie Gwyn's involvement further complicates the question of whom to trust. This English text comes from the 1928 American edition, presenting a country-estate thriller that keeps the explanation of its central apparition deliberately uncertain.

• Fear and deception
• Family secrets
• Wealth and desire

Why read it

The ghostly figure acquires force from the network of human interests surrounding the estate.

English text of the 1928 Doubleday, Doran edition