Under the Cloak by Rhoda Broughton | a Victorian tale of mystery and suspense | Audiobook

Under the Cloak is a short suspense story by the Welsh-born Victorian writer Rhoda Broughton. It first appeared in a collection entitled Tales for Christmas Eve in 1873 and was republished as Twilight Stories in 1879. Rhoda earned a reputation as one of the Queens of the Circulating Libraries during her lifetime. Her output was prolific for the age, but her early novels earned her a reputation for sensationalism. Consequently, her later, more substantial work was neglected by critics. As with the main protagonist in this story, Broughton's women are often strong characters. However, with these, she managed to subvert traditional images of femininity. She was also a niece of Sheridan le Fanu, who helped her begin her literary career. Generally, her short works possess supernatural or criminal elements. And they do include some beautiful descriptions of everyday life, and these insights are rewarding. Naturally, as this story is 150 years old, the writing style is, as you would expect, old-fashioned. But often, that is part of the joy of revisiting these dusty offerings. Many thanks to "clairekinson" for her outstanding reading of the story. Claire is a professional voice artist and actress, and her Fiverr profile can be found by following the link below: https://www.fiverr.com/clairekinson