The author who captivated my eight-year-old imagination and passion for gothic storytelling was Ruth M. Arthur. Her books are no longer in print, so I hunted them down one by one. I worried the stories wouldn’t hold up for the adult I had become, but I found myself appreciating them in a new way. During my second year at Hollins, I reached out to Karen Coats and asked to do an Independent Study in which I explored Portrayals of Madness in Children in Gothic Literature. I had noticed that children in literature become victims when dealing with someone else’s madness (Medea, La Llorona, The Others, Night of the Hunter, Pan’s Labyrinth), but they tend to be empowered when confronting their own. Many of Arthur’s female protagonists suffer traumatic experiences, lose their way emotionally, then pull themselves out of the depths of despair, often through paranormal or uncanny experiences.

     Ruth M. Arthur’s A CANDLE IN HER ROOM was my gateway drug into the world of gothic storytelling. The Mansell family leave their shabby home in London after they inherit a lovely old home on the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It doesn’t take long for the three sisters to discover secret hiding places, a book about witchcraft, and a mysterious wooden doll with the name DIDO etched into her back. The impact DIDO has on the Mansell family spans three generations, and who knows how many before this family found her. The burning candle symbolizes the attempts to ward off the darkness the doll brings to their lives.

     PORTRAIT OF MARGARITA features a mixed-race young woman who faces prejudice when the death of her parents forces her to live with a cousin she’s never met. Kitchen Sink Realism, a popular cultural movement in England during the late ‘50s, early ‘60s, is evident in this story. Flawed characters, messy relationships, and a family dealing with an autistic daughter make this story one of my favorites. I think this was the first book I read that had a supernatural black dog, originating from English folklore. I used this book for a paper on illustrators. Margery Gill illustrated most of Arthur’s books, and her work is fabulous.

     If you’re in the mood for a good old fashioned gothic tale, Ruth M. Arthur brings the uncanny through dreams, ghosts, time travel, and folklore. Her books occupy a special place in my personal library.