Broughton, Rhoda

29 November 1840 - 5 June 1920

Welsh novelist and short story writer — and niece of Joseph Sheridan LeFanu and mentor of Mary Cholmondeley — with a strong interest in the psychological; female protagonists often figure prominently in her work.

Sites:
Broughton page
Includes biographical note, etexts, and a few links. [Literary Heritage, West Midlands]
Brief biographical note
Includes partial bibliography. [Wikipedia]
Rhoda Broughton
Supernaturalist bibliography. [Guide to Supernatural Fiction, Tartarus Press]
Broughton's Ghost-Story-Related Materials at the Jack Mooney Collection
This brief essay, by Melissa Edmundson, uses rare material from the Jack Mooney Collection of Rhoda Broughton at the Thomas Cooper Library, U of South Carolina (also referenced in the link just below) to illustrate Broughton's complex attitude toward her ghost stories and their role in her understanding of herself as commercially successful writer. Many thanks to Melissa Edmundson for generously allowing The Literary Gothic to publish this essay.
Broughton Exhibit
Scroll down to page 3 of this PDF newsletter to read a brief discussion of Broughton and some materials related to her career exhibited at the Thomas Cooper Library at the U of South Carolina in 2004.
Bibliography
[FantasticFiction]


Etexts:
"Behold it was a Dream!" [1873]
- at Gaslight (43K)
- at Wondersmith
Includes a very brief introduction by Blake Wilfong, from which you can reach the story itself.

"The Man with the Nose" opens in new tab/window
Available as a text file, a PDF file, or (the default) as an image (an e-facsimile, in other words) of the story as it appeared in Appletons' Journal: a magazine of general literature vol. 8, iss. 185, Oct 12, 1872. From the Making of America project.


"Poor Pretty Bobby" opens in new tab/window
Available as a text file, a PDF file, or (the default) as an image (an e-facsimile, in other words) of the story as it appeared in Appletons' Journal: a magazine of general literature vol. 9, iss. 197, Jan 1, 1873. From the Making of America project.
- This story is also available as a LitGothic etext [48K].

"The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth"
This tale was first published in the popular Temple Bar magazine in February 1868, then republished in Tales for Christmas in 1873. (Michael Cox & R. A. Gilbert, Victorian Ghost Stories [Oxford UP, 1991], 490])
- at BlackMask/Munsey's (choose your format)
--> Study Guide for this story.  a LitGothic etext
- Regarding the possibility that Broughton's famous tale may be based on a real-life incident, see "I've Seen It" by Rosemary Pardoe. [Ghosts and Scholars]
- Like many other Victorian "haunted house" ghost stories — see Charlotte Riddell's "The Uninhabited House" or B. M. Croker's "To Let" — it also reflects that common concern with the supernatural's financial impact upon real estate.

"Rhoda Broughton."