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Book Cover for: Sweeney Todd: The String of Pearls: The Original Victorian Classic, James Malcolm Rymer

Sweeney Todd: The String of Pearls: The Original Victorian Classic

James Malcolm Rymer

In the early years of the Victorian age, a newly literate class of readers turned to "penny dreadfuls" for escapist fun. Blood-curdling tales, published in installments and costing only a penny, offered gripping episodes of romance, mystery, and horror. The notorious penny dreadful Sweeney Todd: The String of Pearls recounts a young woman's desperate search for her missing sailor sweetheart―a quest that ends in a Fleet Street barber shop, where the proprietor has an unsavory connection with a local baker and the secret ingredient to her delicious meat pies.
Authorship of this tale, which was printed anonymously in 1846-47 in eighteen weekly installments, remains in doubt. The story's serial publication ensured an abundance of cliffhangers, and its dark humor made it an especially appealing source for the long-running Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A delight for fans of the modern play, this gripping yarn remains a treat for readers of Victorian mysteries.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Dover Publications
  • Publish Date: Aug 19th, 2015
  • Pages: 304
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.30in - 5.40in - 0.70in - 0.80lb
  • EAN: 9780486797397
  • Categories: ClassicsThrillers - Suspense

About the Author

The authorship is a bit of a mystery. Thomas Peckett Prest was known as the "king of the bloods," although many scholars attribute the story to James Malcolm Rymer, an equally famous writer of penny dreadfuls.

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