Episode 7: Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

Published: Oct. 4, 2019, 10 p.m.

b"Edith NesbitEdith Nesbit was an English novelist born in 1858 in Kennington, which was then Surrey and is now part of London. She died in 1924 in the next county from where she was born.Nesbit is most famous for her children\\u2019s books and her most famous work The Railway Children is well beloved. I loved her Five Children and It stories which I read in a Victorian house all decked out for Christmas one year. That was splendid as the owner of the house had a great sense of interior decoration (though she was also rather too fond of a drink as I found out when I grew up)Like most Victorian novelists she had a dabble in ghost stories. They sold well at the time. This one, Man Sized in Marble appears in a lot of anthologies.It\\u2019s a story that is more impressive on the second reading (or hearing). The first time through you don\\u2019t pick up on all the little hints and foreshadowings that something dreadful is going to happen. In fact, Laura\\u2019s death wasn\\u2019t foreseen by me, which is the sign of a good story.There is a lot of nice Gothic description of the woods and the moon and the church as well as the house lit by candles and tallow tapers.\\xa0I was going to do The Nurse\\u2019s Tale this week, but this took precedence. I am going to do The Phantom Coach next week, but I\\u2019m itching to do something American again to perfect my accent. I appreciate it may take more than one story to do that.So, I\\u2019m thinking Ambrose Bierce. Any suggestions welcome.My new book is out. Hard copies arrived today. Very exciting. I\\u2019m still doing voiceover and narration work if you need any of that done. I find most people don\\u2019t.As ever, still spending more on the podcast than I earn, so if you fancy helping me out, check outTo show your appreciation, why not subscribe to Substack. Free gets all the free stuff and $5 a month gets you all the exclusive stories and episodes.https://tonywalker.substack.com/ (Subscribe)Support the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"