Brandon Coyle's wife : a sequel to "A skeleton in the closet" by Southworth
"How to speak with the dead" by Sciens is a Victorian sensation novel written in the late 19th century. It appears to be a melodramatic romance-mystery centered on a broken betrothal, a suspected bigamy, and a web of secrets that threaten reputations and lives. The story follows Lady Arielle Montjoie, her steadfast friend Net Fleming, the ruthless suitor Brandon Coyle, and the exiled Valdimir Desparde across estates, courts, and oceans as scandal,
disappearance, and crime entwine with questions of identity and honor. The opening of the novel stages a public rupture: during the reading of her grandfather’s will, Lady Arielle denounces her engagement, revealing Brandon Coyle’s secret marriage to village girl Christelle (Kit) Ken; Coyle rages, tears up evidence, is disowned by his uncle, and storms out with his sister Aspirita’s defiant support, while Net Fleming corroborates the charge and reports Kit’s sudden disappearance. Arielle urges silence, yet the household gossip quickly spreads. The narrative then shifts to Valdimir Desparde’s self-imposed exile: sailing incognito to New York, resisting despair, he aids Annek Yok—an old Skol acquaintance—whose husband has just died, and escorts her and her infant to her brothers in New Orleans. There, seeking truth about a notorious execution tied to his name, Valdimir hunts a tell-all pamphlet, receives a forged letter implying Arielle’s new engagement, collapses, and later, amid a yellow-fever outbreak, throws himself into relief work—only to reach Leroy Place and find Annek and her child dead as he begins tending the stricken Yok family. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Southworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte, 1819-1899 |
|---|---|
| Title | Brandon Coyle's wife : a sequel to "A skeleton in the closet" |
| Original Publication | New York: G.W. Dillingham, 1878, copyright 1893. |
| Credits | Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | American fiction -- 19th century |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77295 |
| Release Date | Nov 22, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 461 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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