Lady Cynthia Asquith

[helrunar]

News about a Cynthia Asquith reprint from social media. I hope Solar Press are a reputable outfit:

Our small press publisher Solar Press has been working with Cynthia Asquith's estate for the last few months to put together a definitive new edition of This Mortal Coil---a collection of eerie, weird, and macabre tales that hasn't been reissued since its original 1947 Arkham House printing.*

pre-orders are currently available on our site (in the UK/EU):
solarpressbooks.com/.../this-mortal-coil-by...

And on OrbitDVD (in the US/Canada):
www.orbitdvd.com/.../book-pre-order-this-mortail...

(UK Orders ship March 31st, and US orders ship early April)

An anthologist by trade, Cynthia Asquith was an early champion of D.H. Lawrence---publishing The Rocking Horse Winner in her 1926 anthology 'The Ghost Book'---and helped to raise the profiles of names such as M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen with her influential early 20th century horror anthologies.

This Mortal Coil is the only collection of horror stories Lady Asquith ever wrote. Despite this, the work has developed a cult following, praised for its rich characterisation and elegant prose. There's definitely a Jamesian feel to many of the stories---especially The Playfellow and 'God Grante That She Lye Stille'.

My personal highlights of the collection are The White Moth---the story of a journalist's investigations into a reluctant poet compelled by unseen forces to write hypnotic poetry---and The Playfellow---a tale of high Gothic intrigue and vengeful spirits.

We're really proud to have helped get this wonderful little book back out into the world after so long languishing in obscurity, and we hope it allows people to finally read the book who otherwise couldn't have afforded an original Arkham House first edition.

*A revised edition of the book was reissued in the UK in 1950 by J.M. Barrie. Retitled 'What Dreams May Come,' this new edition featured revised, reedited stories with plot edits and modernised prose. The original, beautifully written stories have been trapped inside expensive Arkham House first editions for 77 years.

[helrunar]

Neither of the links in this announcement point to an existing page--both get 404 responses. But perhaps the announcement was sent out prematurely. I'll update if I learn more. Nice to see an interest in her work.

Hel.

[Swampirella]

That's great news, Hel, thanks for letting us all know.

Ed. Well, great until you got the error message!

[helrunar]

The links are now working fine for me.

cheers, Hel

[Shrink Proof]

Mar 21, 2024 18:27:20 GMT helrunar said:

News about a Cynthia Asquith reprint from social media. I hope Solar Press are a reputable outfit:

You can get to it by going to the Solar Press homepage and then scrolling to the bottom of it.

And yes, I reckon Solar Press are a reputable outfit. At least, they sent the copy of "The Room Opposite" that I ordered and paid for by return and were very helpful in an email exchange about submissions to their horror anthology. Not only that, they rejected the story I submitted - how reputable can you get?

[helrunar]

Thanks, Malcolm. The links started working shortly after I wrote that note. I think it must have been some kind of temporary glitch.

Well, I personally think it's very bad form that the Solar Press folks rejected your story, but there you are.

cheers, Steve