About this book
Cecilia de Noël by Mary Elizabeth Hawker (writing as Lanoe Falconer) is a haunting Victorian ghost story that unspools through six conflicting viewpoints, each deepening the mystery and unsettling what you thought you knew. Published in 1891, this gothic horror blends domestic intimacy with uncanny suggestion: drawing-room conversations, tender recollections and rival testimonies layer together until truth itself becomes elusive.
Hawker’s short novel uses a Rashomon-like structure to examine memory, grief, and the clash between scientific rationalism and the uncanny. The narrative voice shifts among witnesses, creating psychological tension rather than cheap shocks—atmosphere, implication and moral ambiguity replace explicit gore. Readers will feel the era’s manners and anxieties: late-19th-century social codes, the era’s faith in “gospel of fact,” and the fragile line between realism and the supernatural.
Ideal for fans of classic ghost stories, Gothic horror and psychological hauntings, this audiobook rewards listeners who enjoy subtle dread, unreliable narrators and rich period detail. Listen to Cecilia de Noël for an elegantly told, atmosphere-driven tale that lingers long after the last perspective has spoken.
