Robert William Chambers: which book should you start with?

In New York at the start of the twentieth century, William Destyn, a penniless young man, makes a living from magic tricks with mice dyed every colour. One of them, a green one, escapes into the flat of his neighbour, Ethelinda, a young painter. Now her husband, William invents a device that picks up “psychic currents” and links two people made for each other. With Ethelinda and her sister-in-law Sacharissa, he sets up a company called The Green Mouse to make his fortune. But every test leads to unexpected and comic encounters, in a light fantasy that has fun with science and love. Its lively dialogue makes it an enjoyable read in the language you are learning.

A forbidden play is circulating under the title “The King in Yellow”. The first act seems innocent, but whoever reads the second falls into madness. In this collection of stories, a man believes he is destined to rule America, a sculptor discovers a liquid that turns living things into marble, and a painter is haunted by the watchman of a nearby church. Here we discover Carcosa and the Yellow Sign, mysteries that fascinated H. P. Lovecraft and many writers after him. The fear comes from what is never quite said. The stories can be read one by one, at your own pace, in the language you are learning.