Checkmate (1871) is a novel by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Although less well-known than his more popular works of Gothic horror and mystery, including the vampire novella Carmilla (1872) and the novel The House by the Church-Yard (1863), Checkmate remains central to Le Fanu’s legacy as an innovator whose literary works inspired Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Walter Longcluse is a mysterious gentleman, a drifter and self-made man whose travels throughout France, Austria, and England resulted in his accumulation of an immense personal fortune. With his calm demeanor and general friendliness, he is quickly accepted into the inner circle of the Arden family, a clan of aristocrats whose once luxuriant star has lately dimmed due to unpaid debts and the murder of one of their number. As Longcluse courts the lovely Alice, her brother Richard enjoys the older man’s company, and the two become fast friends. One night, however, a visit to a gambling club brings them face to face with Monsieur Lebas, a brutish figure who seems to recognize Longcluse and, later that evening, is discovered to have been murdered. As the story unfolds, clues planted discreetly throughout the plot lead to Le Fanu’s thrilling conclusion, which contains a well-designed plot twist too sinister to imagine. Checkmate is a tale of wealth and betrayal, a novel that raises more questions than answers for the reader held under its spell.
This edition of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Checkmate is a classic of Irish literature reimagined for modern readers.
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Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic horror. Born in Dublin, Le Fanu was raised in a literary family. His mother, a biographer, and his father, a clergyman, encouraged his intellectual development from a young age. He began writing poetry at fifteen and went on to excel at Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied law and served as Auditor of the College Historical Society. In 1838, shortly before he was called to the bar, he began contributing ghost stories to Dublin University Magazine, of which he later became editor and proprietor. He embarked on a career as a writer and journalist, using his role at the magazine as a means of publishing his own fictional work. Le Fanu made a name for himself as a pioneer of mystery and Gothic horror with such novels as The House by the Churchyard (1863) and Uncle Silas (1864). Carmilla (1872), a novella, is considered an early work of vampire fiction and an important influence for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897).
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