A Beleaguered City
by Margaret Oliphant
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At a glance:
- Author: Margaret Oliphant
- First Published: 1880
- Type of Work: Novella
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—occult
- Time of Work: The late 1870’s
- Setting: Semur, a provincial city in France
- Genres: Short fiction, Fantasy, Magical and occult fantasy
- Subjects: France or French people, Nineteenth century, Ghosts or apparitions, Death or dying
- Locales: France, Europe
The Plot
A Beleaguered City is a fantastic, speculative ghost story that takes stock of the changing beliefs of nineteenth century Europeans regarding religion and the supernatural. Very popular in the nineteenth century, it went out of print until late in the twentieth century. It can be seen as one of the first attempts to include within the realm of fantasy stories the areas of inquiry usually associated with religion.
Semur is a rather dreary French provincial city participating in the general malaise of France after that country’s defeat by Germany in the...
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