Ellen Wood, The Master of Greylands

Elizabeth Steere (University of North Georgia)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica E. Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1873

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

The Master of Greylands was serialized in Ellen Wood’s magazine, The Argosy, from January to December 1873, and was published in three volumes by Richard Bentley and Son that same year. It is a domestic mystery about an upper-class family, featuring common tropes of sensation novels popular at the time, such as murder, secret identities, fraud, and a clandestine marriage.

The novel is set in Greylands, a village on the English coast, featuring a nunnery with an order of sisters, the Grey Ladies, and the Friar’s Keep, the ruins of a monastery said to be haunted by the ghost of the Grey Monk.

The late Mr. Castlemaine had three sons: Basil, James, and Peter. Basil, the eldest, left England years ago and was never heard from again. In Basil’s absence, James took the position of...

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1147 words

Citation: Steere, Elizabeth. "The Master of Greylands". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 March 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=207, accessed 09 June 2026.]

Ellen Wood, The Master of Greylands

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

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