Friday 28 September 2018

Dennis’s Library (#40):
The Curse of the Wise Woman
by Lord Dunsany

(Sphere, 1976)

 By this point, it seems that the Dennis Wheatley Library Of The Occult had abandoned their distinctive circular, zodiac sign cover designs; which is a blessing in this particular case, because the full cover painting (for which I cannot find a credit online) is absolutely superb.

This book has been in my possession for many years, but I confess, I’ve never got around to reading it. Though Lord Dunsany remains noteworthy to weird fiction fans as a primary influence on the early work of H.P. Lovecraft, His Lordship's brand of oneiric high fantasy has never really been my cup of tea, and though this rare departure into real world-set supernatural fiction might conceivably be worth a punt, Wheatley’s description of it as appealing primarily to “..those who love shooting, hunting and magnificent descriptions of the beauties of nature” hasn't exactly stoked my enthusiasm for giving it a try, even though the Irish political angle sounds quite interesting.



Top marks for use of the word ‘profanation’. One of my favourites.

As this is the highest number I currently own within Dennis Wheatley’s Library Of The Occult, here is a run-down of what was included within it up to this point. A pretty varied selection to say the least.

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