Standard Ebooks

Uncle Silas

J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Description

Uncle Silas is told from the account of Maud Ruthyn, an heiress living with her reclusive father, Austin Ruthyn. She learns about her uncle, Silas Ruthyn, and his past reputation marred by gambling and the apparent suicide of a man to which Silas owed a large gambling debt that occurred in a locked room in Silas’ residence.

In order to clear the Ruthyn name of the rumors of Silas’ past, Austin names Silas as Maud’s guardian through Austin’s will upon his death. Also noted in Austin’s will, Silas would inherit the fortune left to Maud should she die while under his ward. Maud befriends her cousin Millicent and quickly adjusts to life under Silas’ care, despite his often frightening demeanor. Although Silas has proclaimed that he’s a newly reformed Christian, Maud becomes increasingly suspicious of her uncle’s motives as life for her becomes increasingly unpleasant.

The story of Maud Ruthyn and her uncle Silas evolved through multiple iterations, beginning with the short story “A Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” in 1839, before ultimately becoming the three-volume novel published in 1864. This ebook reproduces a revised, two-volume version released a year later.

Read free

This ebook is thought to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. It may still be under copyright in other countries. If you’re not located in the United States, you must check your local laws to verify that this ebook is free of copyright restrictions in the country you’re located in before accessing, downloading, or using it.

Download for ereaders

Read online

A brief history of this ebook

  1. Update boilerplate CSS

  2. [Editorial] re-enter -> reenter

  3. [Editorial] hardhearted -> hard-hearted

  4. Update se.css to new standards

  5. Remove no longer needed ignore file

More details

Sources

Transcriptions

Page scans

Improve this ebook

Anyone can contribute to make a Standard Ebook better for everyone!

To report typos, typography errors, or other corrections, see how to report errors.

If you’re comfortable with technology and want to contribute directly, check out this ebook’s GitHub repository and our contributors section.

You can also donate to Standard Ebooks to help fund continuing improvement of this and other ebooks.