In this short story by four great Victorian authors, a woman’s fascination with an abandoned house reveals mystery and intrigue within.
Written by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Adelaide Anne Procter, “A House to Let” tells the story of an elderly woman who moves to London for a change of scenery. Fascinated by signs of life emanating from a supposedly abandoned house, she entreats two rival helpers to investigate. On their journey to uncovering the truth, they return to their mistress with competing tales of men lost at sea, bizarre circus performers, forged death certificates, and more.An international celebrity during his lifetime, Charles Dickens (1812–1870) is widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His classic works include A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, and A Tale of Two Cities, one of the bestselling novels of all time. When Dickens was twelve years old, his father was sent to debtors’ prison, and the boy was forced to work in a boot-blacking factory to support his family. The experience greatly shaped both his fiction and his tireless advocacy for children’s rights and social reform.