The Stealers of Light

About this book

A mysterious man arrives in a town beneath a hill, admired by adults and feared by children. Marie, Queen of Romania, begins The Stealers of Light with a figure whose beauty and authority conceal a disturbing purpose.

Her legend follows the desire to possess light and the consequences of trying to extinguish what belongs to others. A scene of radiance escaping across the desert gives the title its lasting image. Edmund Dulac illustrated the original 1916 edition with two colour plates, bringing his subtle handling of luminous colour to the tale. Dulac's pictures catch the story's tension between outward splendour and the harm hidden beneath it.

Credits: A Celebration of Women Writers, University of Pennsylvania. Mary Mark Ockerbloom and Tom Kinter.