Stories By English Authors: Italy (Selected by Scribners)

In Short

Stories By English Authors: Italy brings together five mid-to-late nineteenth-century novellas and short stories that filter the Italian peninsula through a distinctly British lens. Ranging from high-stakes gambling in Monte Carlo to Venetian romantic elopements, Southern Italian brigand warfare, and the social eccentricities of expatriates in Rome, the collection captures the friction between English decorum and Mediterranean unpredictability. These writers—James Payn, W. E. Norris, A. Mary F. Robinson, Laurence Oliphant, and Anthony Trollope—deliver a lively cross-section of Victorian genre fiction. The anthology endures for its crisp character studies, witty satire, and evocative period atmosphere.

The Story

The volume opens with James Payn's "A Faithful Retainer," wherein the wealthy, sheltered Richard Luscombe is sent on a restorative tour of Southern Europe accompanied by his family’s trusty butler, Maitland. Designed to escape dull English routines and improve his fragile health, the journey takes a turn when Richard discovers Monte Carlo. Entranced by the casino tables, the youth experiences a spectacular winning streak. Maitland watches in horror as his young master forfeits his rest, air, and physical well-being to intense excitement. Realizing that the feverish pursuit of fortune is rapidly destroying the young man's health, Maitland takes matters into his own hands, committing a well-intentioned fraud to save Richard from self-destruction and return him safely home.

In W. E. Norris's "Bianca," the narrator, Jenkinson, is drawn into the clandestine romance of Count Albrecht von Rosenau and the Venetian maiden Bianca Marinelli. Albrecht enlists Jenkinson to escort Bianca to the mainland at the Lido while he is delayed by military duty. The rendezvous degenerates into comedic chaos when Jenkinson is forced to chase the terrified girl across the shingle, only to be ambushed by Albrecht's stern father, Lieutenant-General Graf von Rosenau. The old general accuses Jenkinson of running off with the girl himself, threatening to force a marriage between them. The tangled affair resolves when Bianca's father appropriates Jenkinson's carriage, leaving the well-meaning Englishman to suffer a miserable night ride home on a garlic-scented public diligence. Years later, he spots Bianca in Paris as a famous, fully established ambassadress.

A. Mary F. Robinson's "Goneril" shifts the mood to an Italian villa nestled in the hills, where the young, spirited Goneril stays with two older hostesses, Madame Petrucci and Miss Prunty. The arrival of Signor Graziano, an older local gentleman, disrupts the quiet routine. Entranced by Goneril's youth and warmth, Graziano begins acting younger than his years, competing for the young girl's favor and sparking friction among the elders.

In Laurence Oliphant's "The Brigand's Bride," an adventurous Englishman travels through Southern Italy without money or arms, depending on local hospitality while studying the populace. He falls captive to the infamous bandit leader Croppo and his fierce companion, Valeria. Locked in a dark cellar filled with rotting onions, the narrator is quietly aided by Valeria, who passes him food through an aperture. After his eventual escape, the traveler joins Italian cavalry units as they hunt down the mounted bands of brigands across the plains of Capitanata. Years later, safely settled as a married country squire, he retains the portrait of Croppo’s bride as a souvenir of his reckless youth.

Finally, Anthony Trollope’s "Mrs. General Talboys" satirizes the English expatriate community in Rome. The titular heroine, who has left her husband in Berkshire to "drink fresh at the still living fountains of classical poetry," champions free-thinking and uninhibited romance. When a young Irishman named O'Brien misinterprets her romantic grandstanding on the Appian Way and embraces her, Mrs. Talboys promptly delivers a blow to his ribs, mortified that anyone would take her progressive rhetoric literally.

How It Unfolds

A reckless gamble in Monte Carlo Richard Luscombe escapes his overprotective upbringing by traveling to the Riviera with his family's loyal servant, Maitland. Instead of taking the fresh air, Richard discovers the gambling tables, winning immense sums while destroying his fragile health in a fever of excitement.

Escorting a runaway bride In Venice, the Englishman Jenkinson agrees to help Lieutenant Albrecht von Rosenau by meeting the hidden Bianca Marinelli on the Lido beach. The secret operation turns to farce when Bianca flees from him in terror and Albrecht's furious father arrives to intercept them.

Romantic friction in the hills At a tranquil Italian residence, young Goneril brings unexpected energy to the lives of two elder ladies and their visitor, Signor Graziano. Graziano attempts to reclaim his lost youth to impress the girl, provoking the sharp ire of the older Miss Prunty.

Captured by Southern bandits An unarmed British traveler exploring the Italian hinterlands is captured by the brigand chief Croppo. Locked in an onion cellar, he receives unexpected kindness from the chief's bride, Valeria, who sneaks him food through a small hole in the wall.

Cavalry sweeps across the plains The narrative shifts to military maneuvers as Italian cavalry and active bersaglieri engage in high-speed chases across the plains of Capitanata to dislodge mounted brigands hiding out in remote farmhouses.

Misunderstandings on the Appian Way In Rome, the highly eccentric Mrs. General Talboys lectures her companions on classical sentiment and free love. When her companion O'Brien takes her words as an invitation and puts his arm around her waist, she knocks him backward with a sharp blow to the ribs.

The People

• Maitland wants to fulfill his duty to the Luscombe family by preserving the health and fortune of his young master. Faced with Richard’s runaway gambling addiction, the butler steps outside his rigid ethics to stage an intervention that brings the boy home.
• Richard Luscombe wants excitement and independence away from his coddling parents. His streak of luck at the Monte Carlo casino brings him temporary fame and wealth, but leaves him physically exhausted before he is ushered back to England.
• Jenkinson wants to perform a simple act of disinterested kindness for his friend Albrecht. Instead, he finds himself chasing a screaming girl across a beach, interrogated by a furious general, and stranded without a carriage.
• Count Albrecht von Rosenau wants to elope with Bianca Marinelli despite the strict opposition of his father and military duties, relying on Jenkinson to hold the logistics together.
• Mrs. General Talboys wants to be recognized as an intellectually advanced, unfettered soul free from traditional social trammels. Her grand speeches about uninhibited love collapse the moment a suitor acts on her philosophy, driving her to retreat into wounded dignity.
• O'Brien wants to oblige Mrs. Talboys by offering the romantic devotion she constantly preaches about. His miscalculation leaves him punched in the ribs and permanently nicknamed "the small insect" by the English circle.
• Valeria wants to soften the harsh violence of her brigand husband Croppo. She shows quiet compassion to an imprisoned English traveler before the band is eventually broken up by government forces.

In Its Own Voice

"The paths of glory lead but to the grave"; the young Englishman and his luck were the talk of all Monte Carlo, and he enjoyed his notoriety very much; but, as the poor butler plaintively observed, what was the good of that when Master Richard was “killing himself”?

A servant watches helplessly as his young master mistakes self-destructive casino addiction for continental sophistication.

"Sgridi ancora una volta," says I, in the purest lingua Toscana, "e la lascero qui--to get out of this mess as best you can--cosi sicuro che il mio nome e Jenkinsono!"

A frustrated English narrator attempts to calm a hysterically screaming Venetian heiress on an open beach using broken Italian.

"I have thrown down all the barriers of religion," she said to poor Mrs. Mackinnon, "and am looking for the sentiments of a pure Christianity."

An eccentric expatriate lady in Rome announces her radical intellectual awakening to a thoroughly bewildered companion.

What It's Really About

The collection explores the culture clash between rigid Victorian expectations and the unpredictable reality of continental Europe. Italy serves as a dramatic backdrop where English social conventions are tested, mocked, or discarded entirely. Beneath the humor and adventure lies a sharp critique of British hypocrisy: characters travel abroad seeking health, high art, or romantic liberation, yet remain hopelessly bound by their own class prejudices and narrow habits. Whether dealing with the dangerous lure of Monte Carlo casinos, the lawlessness of rural brigandage, or the salon pretensions of the Roman expatriate set, the stories demonstrate how easily English reserve unravels when exposed to Italian heat and freedom.

Why Read It Today

Stories By English Authors: Italy offers a charming time-capsule of mid-nineteenth-century travel literature and popular fiction. Readers who enjoy light social satire, classical travelogue settings, and period comedy will find much to admire in these five distinct voices. The prose moves swiftly, balancing Trollope's dry observational wit with Oliphant's military action and Norris's comedy of errors.

The collection requires minimal effort to navigate, though readers should be prepared for typical Victorian stylistic choices, including occasional passages of non-standard Italian, romanticized regional stereotypes, and the casual class assumptions of the era. The collection does not pretend to offer deep psychological realism or native Italian perspectives; instead, it delivers a bright, energetic view of how Victorian writers used foreign settings to entertain their readers back home. It remains a refreshing, lightweight anthology that captures the exact moment British tourism turned the Mediterranean into a backdrop for drama.