The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton Summary

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton Summary

The Lady’s Maid’s Bell

This is the story of a young woman who takes a job as a maid in a new household. Details of the previous maid’s death are still unknown. The mistress of the house wants a maid who can also serve as a friend. Her husband makes regular trips out of town for business purposes leaving his wife alone and when he returns the two always argue. The story hits its climax when the new maid starts hearing a bell ring. At first, she is convinced that it is the mistress requesting her presence. However, the mistress denies ringing the bell. Soon after the new maid starts seeing a ghost of the previous maid wandering in the house.

Afterward

The story follows a young couple who move to England after coming into new wealth. The husband managed to close a business deal that earned them a lot of money. After moving to England, the couple bought an old and secluded house. The agent warned them that the house was haunted but the couple disregarded his beliefs and bought the home.

Afterward, a lawsuit is filed against the husband’s business transactions. A mysterious man makes his way into their house and demands to talk to the husband. The wife leaves the men to talk only to realize that her husband left with the man.

The narrative revolves around the wife’s search for her husband. In her search, she learns of her husband’s shady deals and the ghost living in their home.

Kerfol

This ghost story follows a woman who wants to buy a house called Kerfol. During her visit, she meets a pack of mysterious dogs. The woman decides to look into the previous owners of the home. In her search, she finds that the house was owned by a woman who killed her husband. The mysterious dogs she encountered belonged to the previous owner. According to testimonies, the woman discovers that the husband unlike his wife hated the dogs which brought conflict in the homestead. The story dives deeper into the mysteries surrounding the previous owners.

The Triumph of the Night

The story follows a man who has traveled into a new town for a job interview. After arriving by train, the man realizes that his potential employer failed to send a taxi to pick him up. After staying in the cold for hours, the man decides to start walking to his employer’s home.

On his way, he encounters a young man who offers him shelter in his uncle’s old mansion. The man is bothered when he meets the uncle. He sees an evil twin standing beside the uncle. His fears grow deeper when he realizes that no one else can see the evil twin standing in front of them.

Pomegranate Seed

The story follows a newlywed woman who lives happily with her husband. Shortly after their marriage, mysterious notes are delivered regularly to their home. The husband fails to reveal the identity of the writer. Every time the letters arrive, he heads over to his office and reads them alone. His wife soon realizes that the letters are written by a woman.

She is puzzled since her husband has only dated two women in his life, her and his previous dead wife. Each time the husband reads the notes he seems disturbed. Mysteries of the letters unfold after when the wife starts reading the letters and discovers the real author of the notes.

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