Want some romance with a side of literary rivalry? How about if it’s set in the Victorian era and features that aptly named mode of early horror fiction—the penny dreadful? The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden, which came out earlier this month, is a delightful historical romance that pushed all the right buttons for me. If you love Victorian literature, bold heroines, and sweet couples solving mysteries together, then this is the perfect book to curl up with on a cool autumn day!
Elizabeth Black is known for writing nice, respectable “silver-fork” novels and setting a good example for the young girls at the school where she is headmistress. What no one else knows, however, is that she also writes penny dreadfuls—serialized tales of paranormal horrors and daring adventures aimed at the working class—under the pseudonym Charles King. Her new series, “The Lady and the Highwayman,” has quickly become the talk of London, but as a result people are starting to ask questions about the mysterious author’s identity. Meanwhile, Fletcher Walker had been the reigning king of the penny dreadful scene before Mr. King knocked him from his throne. The latest installment of his Urchins of London Adventures, “The Vampire’s Tower,” is lagging behind in sales. Apart from being a blow to his pride, this change in circumstances threatens Fletcher’s ability to fund the Dread Penny Society, a secret brotherhood of like-minded authors who have dedicated their lives to helping the less fortunate. Fletcher is determined to find out Mr. King’s identity and either wrestle back his throne or win the other writer to his cause. When Fletcher approaches Elizabeth to help him uncover Mr. King’s identity, she decides to play along and finds herself having an adventure worthy of one of her heroines.
As if all that weren’t enough going on, the story is interspersed with chapters from “The Lady and the Highwayman” and “The Vampire’s Tower.” These two meta-stories inform and parallel the main action, in addition to providing important context for the understanding of penny dreadfuls. Charles King’s “The Lady and the Highwayman” is a classically Gothic tale that blends supernatural horror and romance in equal measure. Following the death of her parents, Miss Lucinda Ledford goes to live at an isolated estate on the edge of a forest that the locals claim is haunted by a monster. Just before her arrival, she is accosted by a surprisingly charming highwayman, who keeps his face hidden and doesn’t actually steal anything. Lucinda’s transformation from a helpless orphaned damsel to a heroine brave enough to charge into the forest and confront the beast parallels Elizabeth’s own growing sense of agency and bravery. Meanwhile, the character of the highwayman reflects Elizabeth’s experiences with hidden identities and leading a dual life. Fletcher’s story, “The Vampire Tower,” centers on a band of street urchins much like the young boys and girls that the Dread Penny Society tries to rescue. Instead of facing abusive bosses and corrupt brothel-owners, his fictional urchins fight a famished vampire, but their triumph provides hope and empowerment for the real kids growing up on the streets like Fletcher did. The story is reminiscent of actual penny dreadfuls from the era that featured young boys going on adventures and solving mysteries, like the anonymously published The Boy Detective: or, The Crimes of London (1865).
Speaking of anonymously published, The Lady and the Highwayman does a great job of exploring the reputation of penny dreadfuls and the issues that those who wrote them might have faced. As a form of literature aimed primarily at working-class men and featuring violent or scandalous subject matter, penny dreadfuls were often viewed as low-brow, disreputable, and even dangerous. There were movements to ban the publication or criminalize the reading of penny dreadfuls by those who worried the books would turn England’s youth into delinquents. With such a reputation, it’s no wonder that few authors wanted their own names associated with such works. Many penny dreadfuls were either published anonymously or under pseudonyms. The politics of respectability are even more fraught when you bring gender into it, as women were often considered to be too delicate for sensational stories and were held to even higher standards of propriety. In the book, these issues influence Elizabeth’s decision to write under a false name and hide her hobby from even her closest friends. The novel also addresses related issues, such as the value of educating and promoting literacy among the working class and the need for women to read and write stories in which female characters are allowed agency and adventure.
The Lady and the Highwayman may just be one of the most fun and heart-warming stories I’ve read this year. It perfectly balances a compelling plot featuring a sweet romance with insightful commentary on the Victorian literary scene. Who knew I could have so many of my favorite things in one book? If this review has piqued your interest, you can find The Lady and the Highwayman on shelves now at your favorite retailer or buy it online and support The Gothic Library in the process by clicking on this Bookshop.org affiliate link.