The Victorian Chaise-Longue (1953) is a novella by the English novelist Marghanita Laski. Published in 1953, the book describes the experience of an invalided young woman who wakes up in the body of her alter-ego eighty years previously. Described by Anthony Boucher as 'relentlessly terrifying', and as 'disturbing and compulsive' by Penelope Lively, the novella plays on the fear of the unexpected and unknown. [1] [2]
It was republished in 1999 by Persephone Books.
The New York Times reviewer Kenneth Fearing praised the story as "a subdued, evenly paced nightmare." [3] Writing in F&SF, Anthony Boucher described The Victorian Chaise Longue as "an admirably written book, highly skilled in its economic evocation of time, place and character - and a relentlessly terrifying one." [1] P. Schuyler Miller placed the "slight but beautifully written" novella on "the borderlands of fantasy and science fiction." [4]
Two adaptations of the story were produced for American television. The first, in 1957, starred Joan Fontaine and appeared on the Ronald Reagan-hosted General Electric Theater. [5] The second, starring Frances White, appeared as an episode of Studio 4 in the United Kingdom in 1962. [6]
The Victorian Chaise-Longue (1953) is a novella by the English novelist Marghanita Laski. Published in 1953, the book describes the experience of an invalided young woman who wakes up in the body of her alter-ego eighty years previously. Described by Anthony Boucher as 'relentlessly terrifying', and as 'disturbing and compulsive' by Penelope Lively, the novella plays on the fear of the unexpected and unknown. [1] [2]
It was republished in 1999 by Persephone Books.
The New York Times reviewer Kenneth Fearing praised the story as "a subdued, evenly paced nightmare." [3] Writing in F&SF, Anthony Boucher described The Victorian Chaise Longue as "an admirably written book, highly skilled in its economic evocation of time, place and character - and a relentlessly terrifying one." [1] P. Schuyler Miller placed the "slight but beautifully written" novella on "the borderlands of fantasy and science fiction." [4]
Two adaptations of the story were produced for American television. The first, in 1957, starred Joan Fontaine and appeared on the Ronald Reagan-hosted General Electric Theater. [5] The second, starring Frances White, appeared as an episode of Studio 4 in the United Kingdom in 1962. [6]