The Man With the Black Feather (1909) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. Originally a journalist, Leroux turned to fiction after reading the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, The Phantom of the Opera, has become legendary through several adaptations for film, theater, and television, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated 1886 Broadway musical of the same name.
Walking into his office one morning, a journalist discovers a stranger waiting there for him. Holding an ornate wooden box, he reveals himself to be the executor of M. Théophraste Longuet, a deceased manufacturer and a former acquaintance of the journalist. Suspicious at first, the journalist accepts the box, opening it to reveal the voluminous memoirs of Longuet. Within their pages, presumably unread by anyone else, Longuet describes his discovery of documents revealing that he is, in fact, the reincarnation of infamous French highwayman Louis Dominique Cartouche, a vigilante figure who haunted the roads of 18th century France in order to steal from the rich and give their wealth to the poor. Skeptical, the journalist reads the memoirs, which lead him to the legendary “Treasure of Cartouche, ” virtually ensuring the accuracy of Longuet’s claims. Assured of their worth to the public, the journalist convinces his editors to release their discovery to the world. The Man With the Black Feather, which is also known by the title The Double Life, is a mystery novel by Gaston Leroux, one of the leading French detective writers of his generation. Like much of Leroux’s work, the novel is partly based on historical events—Cartouche was an actual figure whose campaign of thievery and charity came to an abrupt end with his brutal public execution in 1721.
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About the author
Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) was a French journalist and writer of detective fiction. Born in Paris, Leroux attended school in Normandy before returning to his home city to complete a degree in law. After squandering his inheritance, he began working as a court reporter and theater critic to avoid bankruptcy. As a journalist, Leroux earned a reputation as a leading international correspondent, particularly for his reporting on the 1905 Russian Revolution. In 1907, Leroux switched careers in order to become a professional fiction writer, focusing predominately on novels that could be turned into film scripts. With such novels as The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1908), Leroux established himself as a leading figure in detective fiction, eventually earning himself the title of Chevalier in the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award for merit. The Phantom of the Opera (1910), his most famous work, has been adapted countless times for theater, television, and film, most notably by Andrew Lloyd Webber in his 1986 musical of the same name.
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