Nina C.F. Gorst - Possessed of Devils - 1897

Possessed of devils
Nina C.F. Gorst
John Macqueen, London, 1897

Nina Gorst (born Nina Cecelia Francesca Kennedy on 2 November 1869; died 19 October 1926) was a prominent British novelist and playwright. She was widely recognized in London literary and social circles, known both for her vivid depictions of working-class London life and her eccentric, spiritualist persona.

Nina Gorst was a pioneering force in early feminist and Edwardian social realism, using her novels to fiercely champion women's emancipation and dismantle the strict taboos of her era. Rather than portraying women through the typical Victorian lens of passive virtue or fallen shame, Gorst crafted complex, unapologetic heroines who fiercely claimed their own bodily autonomy and self-determination.
What truly set Gorst apart as a literary innovator was her unique ability to blend this raw, uncompromising social realism with profound spiritualism: she dragged readers through the grueling, bleak realities of workhouses, slums, and menial labor, yet she used these oppressive environments as a crucible for her characters' moral and mystical transcendence. Deeply influenced by her own prominent role in London’s spiritualist and palmistry circles, Gorst bridged the gap between secular political critique and deep psychological mysticism. In doing so, she carved out a progressive, visionary space in literature—proving that the fight for female liberation and the search for spiritual enlightenment belonged just as much to the marginalized working class as it did to the elite.

The core motif of her debut novel, Possessed of Devils (1897), evolve around female psychological instability, the destructive power of passion, and the societal perception of women's mental health. In her introduction to the 1897 novel, Nina Gorst explicitly states that she is describing a woman she actually knew who was literally "possessed of devils". The book centers on its heroine, Judith Radclyffe (Lady Radclyffe), whose complex, intense, and often volatile temperament challenges contemporary late-Victorian norms.

While contemporary 1897 critics and readers often dismissed the dark narrative as "not by any means a nice one", a modern look at the text reveals several foundational themes:
a coherent psychological critique of late-Victorian society by exploring how the institution of high-society marriage functions as a domestic battleground rather than a peaceful sanctuary. Within these volatile unions, women who exhibit a fierce independence and a superabundance of passion—what contemporary critics disparagingly termed a "curry" of nature—are systematically mislabeled. Rather than recognizing their anger and resistance as a natural desire for autonomy against rigid societal confinement, the narrative exposes how the Victorian status quo quickly pathologizes these defiant women, blurring the line between genuine distress and a calculated label of "madness" or demonic possession
The text is today a recognized work of late-19th-century "New Woman" fiction.


First edition (1897). Original red cloth binding remains structurally solid with tight hinges. Spine is sun-faded with the black stamped lettering partially faded but legible. Internal library stamps present on the front and back endpapers ("Mary's Library"). Tanning limited to end papers, pages crisp and clean throughout.

xii, 323, [1], 21, [1] pages ; 8 ̊ ; 20 cm