Few are aware of Edna Underwood's solitary collection of short fiction, A Book of Dear dead Women (1911), and even fewer of the excellent long horror story 'An Orchid of Asia', reprinted here for the first time since its appearance in Asia magazine in 1920. And yet the collection received good reviews, the Philadelphia Press noting that the stories had 'something of the fantastically imaginative power of Hawthorne, combined with a gorgeousness of imagery that a writer fresh from the puritanical traditions could hardly have attained to . . .' The mingling of beauty and terror is the hallmark of her best work and links it with the writing of several of her contemporaries, including Oscar Wilde, Lafcadio Hearn, Lord Dunsany, and Robert W. Chambers. It is hoped that this collection will introduce readers to a long-neglected writer who deserves more recognition in the genre.
