The Dark Lantern (A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight)

Product Information

The characters were well drawn enough to hold my attention, though I liked some characters better than others. The shutter and top are one piece, so with the top fully rotated CCW, the shutter is open, allowing light to pass. https://darklanterntales.wordpress.com/ Among novelists who might announce their intention of tracing the fortune of a family from the late Victorian period to the Second World War, few would surprise us more than Mr. Henry Williamson. London in the Nineties? Suburban clerks, City merchants, and the complex of relations between families? Nothing less than these from the subject matter of The Dark Lantern, in which Mr. Williamson introduces us to his project. . . . but there is a great deal more, and it is here that his peculiar talents show themselves. Masterly in the establishment of atmosphere he does not shirk the world of London Bridge, where the rulers of an empire feel the first tremors of decline. His hero is a bank clerk, who lives only a few miles outside, but those few miles are enough – and perhaps only Mr. Williamson would have realised it so clearly – to surround him with the moths, birds, insects and country sights which it is his especial joy to study. Lanterns were usually made from a metal frame with several sides (usually four, but up to eight) or round, commonly with a hook or a hoop of metal on top. Windows of some translucent material may be fitted in the sides; these are now usually glass or plastic but formerly were thin sheets of animal horn, or tinplate punched with holes or decorative patterns.

Several other members of both families are also established, who are to weave in and out of the tale as it progresses. Hetty’s parents, Thomas and Sarah Turney, are very firmly based on HW’s mother’s parents, Thomas Leaver and his wife Henrietta (née Turney). The well-to-do Turney family live in Cross Aulton (Carshalton, a stone’s throw from the real family home at Sutton in real life). One of the great lyrical passages in the novel is the description of the herb fields, particularly of lavender, that used to grow in the Sutton/Carshalton area. Mentioned too are the series of ponds that characterise the village, which form one of the sources of the River Wandle (thinly disguised as the River Vandle). Beattie, J.M. (2001). Policing and Punishment in London, 1660–1750: Urban Crime and the Limits of Terror. Great Britain: Oxford University Press. p.181. ISBN 0-19-820867-7. Brightwell has fashioned a multilayered, Upstairs Downstairs-type mystery that drew me in completely. When I finally paused to reflect, I realized it had everything but the kitchen sink. To wit: a young servant girl moves from the country to London and hides her past from her new employers; the matriarch of this household is on her deathbed while her daughter-in-law longs to return to Paris; and her son is intent on proving that anthropometry is a superior method to fingerprinting in identifying criminals. One more thing—when the eldest son is expected to return from India, what the family gets instead is a woman claiming to be his widow and the news that he has drowned at sea.Pasted in the front of HW's own copy of The Dark Lantern is this charming sketch made by his son Richard

Battery technology evolved and in the mid 1890s the first portable electric lanterns were offered for sale. However, the simple and reliable oil lanterns continued to be used for many years. Dietz in particular continued to make oil-burning dark lanterns until at least the late 1920s. In London, the Metropolitan Police converted to electric lanterns, reportedly with some reluctance, in the 1920s. But rural America was still not fully electrified and in small communities, a simple lantern fueled by easily found oil might have engendered more confidence in a policeman than a lantern powered by a battery. Beadles New York Dime Library, 1890. A dark lantern in use. It is described in the story as a bullseye lantern, but is the same as a police lantern, or dark lantern. https://darklanterntales.wordpress.com/ An alternate historical spelling was "lanthorn", believed to derive from the early use of horn windows. [17] Construction [ edit ] The attitudes of the Master and Mistress of the house towards their staff is also described very well throughout the book. All of these unspoken feelings and thoughts between the characters only heightens the suspicious elements of the story. "Is the maid spying on me or going through my things? What does she know? Who is the gentleman that she meets on her half day off?" The fact that almost every character has secrets to hide only adds to the paranoia and creates tension.Banerjee, Tamaghna (31 October 2018). "Sky lantern ban extended to six PS area". The Times of India. Kolkata, India: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. London, 1893. Elderly Mrs. Bentley is on her deathbed, and her son Robert has returned from France. But in the Bentleys’ well-appointed home, everyone has their secrets, including Robert’s beautiful and elusive wife, the orphan maid she hires from the country, and the mysterious young woman who arrives, claiming to be the bride of Robert’s drowned brother.

Boesveld, Sarah (23 July 2013). "While their popularity soars, illuminated paper lanterns increasingly banned across Canada as 'serious fire hazards' ". National Post. Postmedia Network Inc.Jovinelly, Joann; Netelkos, Jason (2007). The Crafts and Culture of a Medieval Town. New York, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4042-0761-5.