The Purcell Papers — Volume 1

The Purcell Papers opens with a vivid portrait of a once‑great Huguenot house forced from Normandy after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Through the generations, the Le Fanu family weaves its way into English and Irish society, serving in the armies of William III and Marlborough and marrying into the Sheridan clan. Their story of exile, adventure and resilience forms the backdrop for a later literary figure whose name would become synonymous with the uncanny.

In the first act, the memoir turns to the childhood of the future novelist, born in Dublin in 1814. A late‑talker who burst into language after the age of two, he displayed an uncanny talent for drawing, verse and performance, sketching balloon mishaps and composing passionate Irish‑themed poetry before his teens. These early glimpses reveal the roots of the imagination that would later shape some of the most memorable gothic tales of the nineteenth century.