Welcome to a Friday the 13th edition of Irish Fiction Fridays. We’ve featured Le Fenu before, but today we will visit more of his Gothic horror stories in honor of the day! In a Glass Darkly Volume one features three stories: “Green Tea,” “The Familiar,” and “Mr Justice Harbottle.” They were first published in 1872, the year before Sheridan Le Fenu’s death. As a bonus, here is an audio version of “Green Tea.”
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fenu was born in Dublin on August 28, 1814. He studied law at Trinity College but ultimately abandoned it in favor of a career in journalism. Interestingly, he did marry Susanna Bennett, the daughter of a Barrister. He owned several newspapers, including the Dublin Evening Mail, and in 1861 bought the Dublin University Magazine, becoming its proprietor and editor. He died in Dublin in 1873.
