The Charwoman's Shadow

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, better and more succinctly known by his title, Lord Dunsany (pronounced "done-SANEY"), is perhaps the most important British fantasy author to appear before Tolkien. Lord Dunsany's work has little connection to Tolkien's except that both create feelings of wonder in readers that whisk them away to fantastic worlds. Dunsany's work has a less realistic, more ethereal quality than Tolkien's, and draws strongly on the traditional fairy-tale, while at that same time energizing the simplicity of the fairy-tale with his sense of drama (Dunsany was also a playwright) and with his magnificent, fluid, beautiful writing. His 1927 novel, "The Charwoman's Shadow," is one of his greatest works, second only to "The King of Elfland's Daughter."Edward Plunkett was born in 1878, became the 18th Lord Dunsany upon the death of his father in 1899, and made an unsuccessful attempt to run for parliament in 1904. With his failure in politics, he began writing his stories of the fantastic, beginning with the collection (currently in-print) "The Gods of Pegana." He enjoyed great literary success and acclaim until his death in 1957, but sadly, at the end of the century, his literature seemed in danger of vanishing from the minds of all but ardent fantasy historians and those who could afford the out-of-print volumes containing his work. But Dunsany has suddenly roared back into print; if you're a lover of fantasy, you cannot miss "The Charwoman's Shadow." It ranks as one of finest novels of the fantastic.The story takes place in a fantasy vision of medieval Spain: "Picture an evening sombre and sweet over Spain, the glittering sheen of leaves fading to somberer colours...Picture the Golden Age past its wonderful zenith, and westering now towards its setting." Young Ramon Alonzo goes to learn the One True Art -- the art of magic -- from a master magician who lives in an old house in the woods. The Master requires a fee, however: Don Alonzo's shadow. The boy surrenders it, believing it is of no use to him. But even as he advances himself in the magic arts, he soon learns there are serious consequences to losing your shadow. An old charwoman who works for the Master seeks Don Alonzo's aid, for she too lost her shadow many years ago to the Master, and she desires it back. The two enter an alliance, one that Don Alonzo starts to regret when he discovers the youthful beauty of the old charwoman's shadow.There are no action set-pieces in "The Charwoman's Shadow," no epic battles, no swarms of monsters and demons, but every sequence in the book is full of unforgettable images and beauty. The scene of re-attaching the shadow makes the book a masterpiece on its own; it reduced me to tears the first time I read it. Lord Dunsany will remind you of no other writer, and you'll thrill to discover his unique take on fantasy, feeling if you were sharing a secret private encounter.Dunsany's word magic pulses stronger than any of the actual magic that appea

Those approaching Dunsany because of his reputation as a proto-fantasy writer (in the sense we now use "fantasy" to decribe a genre) are bound to be disappointed. Happily, he hails from an age before such labels solidified into something restrictive, and his intoxicating prose can be regarded as "fantastic" in its looser sense. He was also a good deal more versatile than the description "fantasy-writer" would suggest, at one point with five plays being staged concurrently on Broadway.The reviewer who cites Dunsany's dreamy style hits closer to the mark. Dunsany is not about plot. He is all about atmosphere, and the joy of language. Here, as elsewhere, there is a heavy perfume in the air, and an admitted stream-of-consciousness at work. If details seem to appear out of nowhere, it is probably because they do. It is part of what makes Dunsany so fascinating. The reader is aware of a fecund imagination spontaneously drawing connections with every sentence. This is unfettered inspiration at work, and it is refreshing in a day when conformity (and bland prose) rules to encounter a writer so obviously delighting in his own personal muse. Yes, certain cells recur, mantra-like, simulating the rhythm of the ancient epics. It is the structure of instinct. Remember, Dunsany was an unrepentent anachronist, setting down all of his flowery, wonderful inspirations with a quill. He was also an Irishman, and as such, of an apparent genetic predisposition to unspool beautifully-crafted tales.Comparisons to Tolkien are useless, and do a grave disservice to Dunsany's art. In Tolkien you find myth; in Dunsany, fable. His writings are not writings for children, as some have suggested (although I suspect children unspoiled by too much Gameboy would enjoy them), but rather fairy stories penned for adults. One needs have lived long enough to have experienced regret, and nostalgia, of the retreat of the fantastic from the more prosaic world of "maturity," to fully appreciate the special bittersweet qualities that inform most of Dunsany's fiction.I haven't checked if it is still in print, but those who enjoy this work should definitely try and locate a copy of "Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley," as it has much in common. In fact, I find it slightly perverse for Del Rey not to have published it first, as a knowledge of "Rodriguez" enriches one's understanding of the novel under consideration. You will learn more about the bowmen, and experience further enchantment (and romance) in Dunsany's imaginative Spain.What's more, it may be the finer book.

Before Tolkien told his children bedtime stories about hobbits and dwarves, there was Lord Dunsany. One of the early fantasy writers, Dunsany only wrote a few full-length novels -- one of which was the haunting, beautifully-written "Charwoman's Shadow." (And if anyone thinks that J.K. Rowling made up the immortality elixir and "philosopher/sorcerer's stone," they better read this!)Ramon Alonzo is a young Spanish nobleman sent to find a dowry for his sister Mirandola. He goes to a powerful magician to learn alchemy -- how to turn dross into gold. The magician agrees, at a price: Ramon Alonzo's shadow. At first he's inclined to give up his shadow, but an elderly charwoman warns him not to. She gave up her shadow, and now is shunned by everyone except the magician because if her contact with dark magic.Eventually Ramon Alonzo agrees to give up his shadow in exchange for a replacement, which turns out to be a dud. His attempts at magic for his sister's sake begin to go horribly wrong, and he finds his very soul in peril as he struggles to fulfil his promise to the charwoman, and get back both of their shadows.Most of Dunsany's fantasy stories are set in fictional lands full of magic and wizards and gods. This one is slightly different, as it is set in a sort of semi-fictional part of Spain, and magic is something which seeps naturally to great evil. But the entire world it's set in has the same sort of fantastical edge that his books usually do. Kids with a good attention span can read this, though some may be bored by the gradual pace and flowery language. And the language is very flowery. Dunsany writes in his standard dreamy prose, with a lot of very strange imagery (like the charwoman scrubbing a bloodstained floor stone, or Ramon Alonzo's fake shadow getting up and racing away).Ramon Alonzo is a nice leading character -- he's a good guy who gets enmeshed in bad things for good reasons. His spiritual struggle and chivalrous rescue of the charwoman Anemone and her shadow are central to the plot. Anemone herself remains a mystery for most of the book, although one development is rather obvious early on. The magician is a cold, unsympathetic character who "scorns salvation" and shows no pity to someone he's wronged. Father Joseph serves as the counterbalance for the magician, a kindly priest who helps Ramon Alonzo out.A beautiful story about love, magic, and kindness, this is a must-read for fans of classic fantasy. See why Dunsany is still one of the best.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than his better known "King of Elfland's Daughter". I found the plot much different than anything else available in the fantasy market today. Certainly it is a different take on the "boy meets girl, boy gets girl" storyline. I thoroughly recommend it.

Perhaps less well-known than "The King of Elfland's Daughter", this book is one of two Dunsany works in Iberian settings in a world that never was (the other is "Don Rodriguez"). It is a wonderful fantasy which just flows for the reader. The language is rich, the description powerful - the keen introdction gives a classic example on the art of writing. This is not some basic overused plot but is interesting enough to have been a real legend. Nor is there a simple black & white setup - the hero's opponent is a character of substance who contributes some of the book's great moments. Any lover of good fantastic fiction deserves a read of this kind of book (they're all too rare). Give it a try and keep an eye out for any other Dunsany volumes - this author, gone over forty years now, could show (and has shown) the way for so many today. The sheer volume of compliments from authors of today speaks to the contribution Lord Dunsany made (and still makes). Publishers, any chance or reprinting more of the canon ?