A rediscovered classic of madness and possession by the author of the famous bodyswap novel Vice Versa After her father loses his fortune, Stella Maberly is forced to go into service as a paid companion to her former schoolfellow, Evelyn Heseltine. When Stella finds Evelyn one morning apparently dead from an accidental--or perhaps intentional--poisoning, she is shocked and horrified. But it is nothing compared to her horror when Evelyn reawakens. Stella believes her friend's body is animated by something evil. Is Stella insane, or has a spirit of darkness actually taken possession of Evelyn? When originally published in 1896, The Statement of Stella Maberly was subtitled 'Written by Herself' and presented as the real-life confession of a possibly mad woman, but the identity of the book's true author, F. Anstey (1856-1934), famous for his oft-filmed bodyswap novel Vice Versa (1882), was soon revealed. This first-ever scholarly edition of Anstey's lost classic features a new introduction and notes by Peter Merchant, plus the first-ever appearance of unpublished manuscripts pertaining to the novel, including a 1916 screenplay for a never-produced film version, An Evil Spirit. 'A very curious and interesting story ... either a study of hallucination, of madness ... or else it is a sober statement of how, on a young girl's death, her body was revivified by a wandering spirit ... The book has very great interest ... written very skilfully and convincingly'--The Review of Reviews 'A unique and weird experience'--The Literary World 'Has a kinship with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ... a most striking tale'--Godey's Magazine

Excerpt from The Statement of Stella Maberly After I am gone I should like others to read it too. Probably very few will believe that what I am writing is the truth but that will not matter to me then, and even already I have ceased to care very much what the world outside may think. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This witty novel by F. Anstey tells the story of a young woman who boldly speaks her mind in a society where women are expected to be docile and obedient. The book is a satire on Victorian society and its values. It is perfect for fans of classic literature and social commentary. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1887 edition. Excerpt: ... I AM beginning a diary for no schoolgirlish or sentimental reason, but as the result of certain ghastly ideas that have come to me lately about death-- death in the abstract, my own death in particular. I dreamt last night that I was dead. It was an uncomfortable dream, and it has left an uncomfortable impression upon me, as such dreams must. It was very vivid. I saw myself lying dead. I saw plainly, and, as a disembodied spirit, I lingered near my life mask for a time. I saw people come into the room: Mrs. Carruthers first. I heard her speak. "Poor Miss Gordon," she said. " But I knew it must end so, and I warned her!" Then Margaret came in and she looked at the dead body--my dead body--and she said nothing. She only shuddered and went hastily out. And others came in afterwards, and some of them said, "We knew, she would kill herself!" And I was dead and I could not tell them-- could not tell them that God in heaven knew that I had struggled, and that my devil was too strong for me! In self-pity I kissed my own dead face. "Poor Isabel," I said, " unhappy Isabel." No one heard me. I was a disembodied spirit. I was dead, and the dead cannot speak for themselves. Their time is passed. They have had their say, and if they have not said everything they wanted to say, it must be left unsaid--unsaid! If in their lives they have sinned, and have had some small statement which they meant to make and which would justify them a little--very little--but still justify them in some way, and if they have put off making this statement and then have died-- heaven help them, it remains unmade! I was deeply sorry for myself. To be dead and not to have explained! Poor Isabel. My time was passed. My chance was gone, and I was going to face eternity. Poor...