The Bat

Rinehart, Mary Roberts, 1876-1958Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 358K words
Chapters: 36

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Bat by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts RinehartAuthor: Rinehart, Mary Roberts, 1876-1958,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2000

Editor's review

The Bat is a suspense play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, centered on the appearance of a mysterious criminal known as "The Bat" in a mansion, blending elements such as the locked room, disguise, and layered suspense. Rinehart is known for building tension, and this play features a large cast and concentrated scenes, giving it a strong sense of the stage; it is suited to readers curious about the forms of early American popular suspense drama. As a script, it advances through dialogue and stage directions; its suspense is direct and highly entertaining, though it does not aim for weighty character depth or literary richness. Read it as a genre text that can be "staged in the mind," and pay attention to how suspense is arranged and how the stage is managed, and it will be easier to enter its world.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy classic suspense, locked-room, and detective fare
Readers interested in early American theater and popular literature
Those looking for a brisk, suspense-dense light read
Readers with experience reading English plays who can use stage directions to imagine scenes

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer deep psychological portraiture and literary narrative
Readers unaccustomed to script format who need fully novelized narration
Veteran mystery fans familiar with suspense conventions who seek novel twists

Reading tips

Read the character list and scene descriptions first to clarify relationships and the mansion's layout, then move into the dialogue; the suspense will be clearer.
Treat stage directions as visual cues and imagine the staging as you read to heighten the tension.
At key suspense points, pause to guess the identity of "The Bat" and the next move, then continue to verify; this adds to the pleasure of reading.
If you are new to reading English plays, you may first consult adaptation materials to understand the story's framework, then return to the original dialogue.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a novel or a play?

It is a play, including a character list, scene descriptions, and dialogue, with narration carried by stage directions. Reading it requires reconstructing the scene from dialogue and stage cues, which differs from reading a novel.

Can I read it without having read other works by Rinehart?

Yes. The play's story is relatively self-contained and does not depend on prior events from other works. As long as you are comfortable with the script format, you can follow the suspense; no prior knowledge of the author's other writing is needed.

Is the suspense strong, or is the ending easy to guess?

The work is known for layer upon layer of suspense and a fog of identity, and the reading experience is full of tension. But as an early popular suspense play, some conventions may feel familiar to modern readers; guessing the identity does not diminish the staged atmosphere and pacing.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Rinehart, Mary Roberts, 1876-1958 Author

Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958) was an American author known for her detective fiction and humorous sketches. The library holds 29 of her works, including The Circular Staircase, The Man in Lower Ten, A Poor Wise Man, The After House, Tish: The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions, Kings, Queens and Pawns: An American Woman at the Front, Tenting To-night, and The Confession. Her detective novels often unfold through female narrators and build suspense from everyday details, creating tension without losing a sense of humor; they have influenced later mystery and detective writing. Public information is limited, so no biographical details are conjectured here, and readers may come to know her narrative style and themes through the works listed above.