Autobiography of a Slander

What if slander could speak and explain its own nature? This is the audacious premise of Edna Lyall's Victorian novel, told from the point of view of 'the slander' itself - a narrator who moves through society like a virus, taking root in idle conversations and poisonous whispers. We follow this entity as it observes its own lifecycle: how it is born from jealousy or malice, how it spreads from ear to ear, how it takes hold in the minds of the respectable, and how it destroys its target's reputation and happiness. Lyall uses this conceit to examine with sharp moral clarity the devastating consequences of careless and cruel speech, the way harmful words ripple outward through a community, and the nearly impossible task of repairing damage once words have been released. The novel quietly asks: what responsibility do we bear for the words we speak, and can destruction ever be undone? A strange, daring little book that treats a destructive force as its protagonist.