{"product_id":"the-victorian-chaise-longue","title":"The Victorian Chaise-longue","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"std\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/7642\/5795\/files\/vcl-660x430.jpg?v=1593032045\u0026amp;width=700\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wp-caption-text\"\u003eA postcard reproduction of the Islington house which is the setting for the book accompanies each copy; commissioned painting by David Gentleman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePREFACE BY PD JAMES\u003cbr\u003e120pp\u003cbr\u003eISBN 9780953478040\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Victorian Chaise-Longue\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/em\u003efirst came out in 1953. It is a very short book, almost a novella, about a young married woman called Melly who lies down on a \u003cem\u003echaise-longue\u003c\/em\u003e and wakes to find herself imprisoned in the body of another woman, Milly, ninety years before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA twisted parody of Melly's comfortable former life unfolds: her doctor is condescending and leery, her sister is a sharp-tongued bully, and Melly herself is in disgrace for a crime of which she knows nothing. The horror and confusion of the body swap is quickly eclipsed by the horror and cruelty of Victorian social convention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe critic Lisa Appignanesi has described it as 'rare instance of what one could call Gothic realism'. It also impressed Penelope Lively: ‘This is time travel fiction, but with a difference…  disturbing and compulsive... In the stifling, menacing atmosphere in which Melanie finds herself there is another dark, unspoken theme. Sex. Milly has been in some way disgraced… the \u003cem\u003echaise-longue\u003c\/em\u003e is the hinge between the two planes of existence. The site of rapture, of ecstasy... ’ Meanwhile PD James, author of the Preface, described it as ‘one of the most skilfully told and terrifying short novels of its decade.’ \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Victorian Chaise-Longue\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is a terrifying, strange and moving novel. It is sometimes compared to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's \u003cem\u003eThe Yellow Wallpaper\u003c\/em\u003e, but with an addictive intensity, and much scarier. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso available as a Persephone e-book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEndpaper\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the front is an early 1950s fabric ('the shiny cream curtains printed with huge pink roses', p.3) reproduced by courtesy of Sanderson \u0026amp; Sons. The back is taken from a panel of mid-nineteenth century Berlin woolwork \u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e© Townley Hall Art Gallery and Museum.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Marghanita Laski","offers":[{"title":"None","offer_id":54098765021491,"sku":"qdl1789694483677","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tissue\/Endpaper","offer_id":54098765054259,"sku":"awz1789694483678","price":31.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cambridge Imprint paper","offer_id":54098765087027,"sku":"nwq1789694483679","price":32.13,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Reusable fabric napkin","offer_id":54098765119795,"sku":"zdg1789694483680","price":44.22,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/0578\/4627\/files\/the-victorian-chaise-longue_1.png?v=1789694489","url":"https:\/\/sandstepclad.shop\/products\/the-victorian-chaise-longue","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}