The Ebony Frame

"If you also will give up your hopes of heaven, I can remain a woman..." When a down-on-his-luck journalist inherits a mysterious Chelsea house and a modest fortune from his Aunt Dorcas, he thinks he’s escaped the drudgery of Fleet Street forever. But hidden in the attic lies a forgotten painting — one that will change his life, and his afterlife, forever. Behind the ornate curves of an ebony frame, he uncovers a portrait of a woman with mesmerizing eyes and haunting beauty — eyes that seem to follow him, to plead, to command. When he calls out to her, she answers. So begins a ghostly love affair that transcends time and death, shadowed by forbidden knowledge, eternal longing, and a terrible price. As fire consumes the past and future alike, he must decide whether a love from beyond the grave is worth the loss of his soul. The Ebony Frame is a seductive, tragic gothic tale from E. Nesbit, best known for her children’s books but here writing in a darker, more adult register. In this lus