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''The Fate of Fenella'' was an experiment in consecutive novel writing inspired by J. S. Wood and published in his magazine ''The Gentlewoman'' in twenty-four parts between 1891 and 1892. When first published in book form its title was ''The Fate of Fenella: by Twenty-four Authors''.
/ref> – although one of the men in the list, "Frank Danby", was in fact a woman. Authors included
/ref> with a review noting the absence of a controlling mind.
Bram Stoker Online
txt and PDF versions of chapter 10. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fate of Fenella, The 1892 British novels Novels first published in serial form Collaborative fiction
''The Fate of Fenella'' was an experiment in consecutive novel writing inspired by J. S. Wood and published in his magazine ''The Gentlewoman'' in twenty-four parts between 1891 and 1892. When first published in book form its title was ''The Fate of Fenella: by Twenty-four Authors''.
Description
The novel first appeared as a twenty-four part serial in J. S. Wood's weekly magazine, ''The Gentlewoman
''The Gentlewoman'' was a weekly illustrated paper for women founded in 1890 and published in London.
For its first thirty-six years its full title was ''The Gentlewoman: An Illustrated Weekly Journal for Gentlewomen''.Nos. 1 to 1,853 dated bet ...
'', in 1891 and 1892. Each of the authors wrote one chapter and passed the novel on to the next person in line. The odd-numbered chapters were written by women, and the even-numbered chapters by men, thus alternating in developing the narrative''Fate of Fenella'', The Spectator, May 1892, retrieved 21 February 2014/ref> – although one of the men in the list, "Frank Danby", was in fact a woman. Authors included
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...
, Mrs. Trollope and Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
. The completed work was republished as a three-volume novel
The three-volume novel (sometimes three-decker or triple decker) was a standard form of publishing for British fiction during the nineteenth century. It was a significant stage in the development of the modern novel as a form of popular literatur ...
by Hutchinson & Co. of London in May 1892,''Fate of Fenella'', bramstoker.org, retrieved 21 February 2012/ref> with a review noting the absence of a controlling mind.
Contemporary review
The following appeared in ''The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...
'' in May 1892.
The result has been a fairly readable novel, that tells an extremely silly story. The plot is ridiculous; the characters waver and change from chapter to chapter; but there are occasionally strong situations, and scraps of fairly good dialogue. On the whole, however, the book is an amusing one; more amusing still when the reader remembers the conditions under which it has been written, and the difficulties with which the separate authors had to contend.
The chapters
The quotation marks in some chapter titles are as shown in the book (from the "cheap" edition of August 1892 by J. S. Wood) # Helen Mathers, ''"Fenella"'' # Justin McCarthy, ''Kismet'' #Frances Eleanor Trollope
Frances Eleanor Trollope (née Ternan; 1 August 1835 – 14 August 1913) was an English novelist. She was best known for her biography on her mother-in-law, Frances Milton Trollope, who was famous for her book, '' Domestic Manners of the America ...
, ''How it strikes a contemporary''
#Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
, ''"Between two fires"''
#May Crommelin
Maria Henrietta de la Cherois Crommelin, known as May de la Cherois Crommelin, (1850–1930) was a novelist and travel writer born in Ulster, Ireland at Carrowdore Castle in County Down.Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gen ...
, ''Complications''
# F. C. Phillips, ''A woman's view of the matter''
# “Rita”, ''So near — so far away''
#Joseph Hatton
Joseph Paul Christopher Hatton (3 February 1837 (baptised in Andover 22 March 1837) – 31 July 1907) was an English novelist and journalist. He was Editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1874 to 1881.
Life
Hatton was born and baptised in Andover, ...
, ''The tragedy''
# Mrs. Lovett Cameron, ''Free once again''
#Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...
, ''Lord Castleton explains''
#Florence Marryat
Florence Marryat (9 July 1833 – 27 October 1899) was a British author and actress. The daughter of author Capt. Frederick Marryat, she was particularly known for her sensational novels and her involvement with several celebrated spiritual me ...
, ''Madame de Vigny's revenge''
# Frank Danby, ''To live or die?''
# Mrs. Edward Kennard, ''"The scars remained"''
# Richard Dowling, ''Derelict''
# Mrs. Hungerford, ''Another rift''
# Arthur A'Beckett, ''In New York''
#Jean Middlemass
Mary Jane (Jean) Middlemass (pen name, Mignionette; 14 July 1833 – 4 November 1919) was an English novelist at the turn of the 20th-century.
Middlemass was the daughter of Robert Hume Middlemass (of the Westbarns of Haddington), and Mary Porte ...
, ''Confined in a madhouse''
#Clement Scott
Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...
, ''"Within sight of home"''
# Clo. Graves, ''A vision from the sea''
# H. W. Lucy, ''Through fire and water''
#Adeline Sergeant
Adeline Sergeant (4 July 1851 – 4 December 1904) was an English writer.
Life
Born Emily Frances Adeline Sergeant at Ashbourne, Derbyshire, the second daughter of Richard Sergeant and Jane (Hall), she was home schooled until the age of thirteen ...
, ''"Alive or dead?"''
#George Manville Fenn
George Manville Fenn (3 January 1831 in Pimlico – 26 August 1909 in Isleworth) was a prolific English novelist, journalist, editor and educationalist. Many of his novels were written with young adults in mind. His final book was his biography ...
, ''Retribution''
# "Tasma", ''Sick unto death''
#F. Anstey
Thomas Anstey Guthrie (8 August 1856 – 10 March 1934) was an English author (writing as F. Anstey), most noted for his comic novel ''Vice Versa'' about a boarding-school boy and his father exchanging identities. His reputation was confirmed b ...
, ''"Whom the gods hate die hard"''
References
External links
* * *Bram Stoker Online
txt and PDF versions of chapter 10. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fate of Fenella, The 1892 British novels Novels first published in serial form Collaborative fiction