Margaret Wilson Oliphant

The Open Door and the Portrait - Stories of the Seen and the Unseen Margaret Wilson Oliphant

Mrs. Oliphant was a 19th century Scottish novelist, biographer and historian. She is best known for her depiction of small town life. After the death of her husband she began writing over 100 books as a means of supporting her children and those of her brother. The Open Door, and The Portrait. Stories of the Seen and the Unseen was published in 1881. Both stories will captivate the reader with their mysterious occurrences. In The Open Door a sense of suspense intensifies as the horrifying environment unfolds and events heighten the imagination of the reader. An excerpt reads, "It was close to us, the vacant door-way in it going out straight into the blackness outside. The light showed the bit of wall, the ivy glistening upon it in clouds of dark green, the bramble-branches waving, and below, the open door,--a door that led to nothing. It was from this the voice came which died out just as the light flashed upon this strange scene. There was a moment's silence, and then it broke forth again. The sound was so near, so penetrating, so pitiful, that, in the nervous start I gave, the light fell out of my hand. As I groped for it in the dark my hand was clutched by Bagley, who, I think, must have dropped upon his knees; but I was too much perturbed myself to think much of this. He clutched at me in the confusion of his terror"