6 h 36 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On Brittany’s lonely roads, the ordinary world grows thin, and every choice draws you closer to the unknown.
In The Mystery of Choice, Robert W. Chambers gathers weird and supernatural tales where something older presses against everyday life. Several stories lead you through Brittany’s moors, villages and coasts. Old beliefs linger close to the surface, and people face a strange pull without knowing how far they should follow it.
Chambers brings an artist’s eye to light, landscape and the odd corners of French life. Fear arrives slowly, through mood and suggestion rather than clear explanations. Choice holds these tales together: a decision matters, yet it is rarely simple or fully free. Art and romance add color to the gathering unease.
What you’ll discover
- A landscape of unease Walk among stone crosses, lonely roads and coastal places where the past seems close.
- Fear in quiet moments Feel dread take shape through restraint, as suggestion makes ordinary surroundings seem less certain.
- Choices without clear answers Follow people whose decisions matter, even when their freedom to choose remains uncertain.
- An artist’s eye Discover how light and landscape deepen the atmosphere of these strange encounters.
- Romance beside the uncanny Find art and romance woven into tales where the supernatural presses against familiar life.
Who will love it
For readers who love short, atmospheric horror in the manner of the 1890s, and anyone curious about the roots of weird fiction. Brittany’s eerie landscapes, old beliefs and dangerous choices invite lovers of gothic and supernatural tales.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Brittany is a land where the past lingers
- The supernatural arrives through quiet suggestion
- Choice is the thread that ties the tales
- Art and romance color every story
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Das Geheimnis der Wahl
by Robert W. Chambers · 1897
On Brittany’s moors and coasts, old beliefs stir as ordinary people face dangerous choices and a strange pull.
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In short
The Mystery of Choice is a book of weird and supernatural tales by the American writer Robert W. Chambers.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Brittany is a land where the past lingers
Much of the book's dread comes from its setting. Brittany, in the far northwest of France, was known to nineteenth century writers and painters as a region of stone crosses, lonely roads and Celtic memory. Its people kept their own language and customs, and many visitors felt that older beliefs lay just under the surface of daily life.
Chambers uses that reputation well. His tales place modern characters, often artists, travelers or educated outsiders, in a landscape that does not share their habits of mind. The weather, the old churches and the hush of the countryside do part of the storyteller's work. A place can feel watchful before anything frightening has happened.
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What is The Mystery of Choice about?
It is a collection of supernatural and gothic stories by Robert W. Chambers. The tales mix quiet horror, romance and artistic life, with several set in Brittany, and they often turn on a person facing a dangerous decision.
When was The Mystery of Choice written?
It was published in 1897, shortly after Chambers's The King in Yellow. The stories are fiction, written in the style of the 1890s, when tales of the uncanny were popular in magazines and books.
Is The Mystery of Choice related to The King in Yellow?
Both are collections of weird tales by Chambers from the mid 1890s, and they share a taste for dread and French settings. They are separate books and can be read on their own.
The author
Robert W. Chambers
1865–1933 · American novelist and illustrator
Robert W. Chambers was an American writer whose 1895 collection The King in Yellow became a cornerstone of weird fiction, casting its influence over H.P. Lovecraft and generations of horror writers since. He was a successful popular novelist in his day, but this early work is what endures.
More by Robert W. Chambers
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