Ann Radcliffe Books In Order

Novels

  1. The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789)
  2. A Sicilian Romance (1790)
  3. The Romance of the Forest (1791)
  4. The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
  5. The Italian (1797)
  6. Gaston de Blondeville (1826)

Omnibus

  1. The Novels (1974)

Collections

Non fiction

  1. The Female Advocate (1799)
  2. Journey Made in the Summer of 1794 (1975)

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Ann Radcliffe Books Overview

The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne

Ann Radcliffe, n e Ward 1764 1823 was an English author and a pioneer of the gothic novel. She married William Radcliffe, an editor for the English Chronicle, at Bath in 1788. The couple were childless. To amuse herself, she began to write fiction, which her husband encouraged. Her works were extremely popular among the upper class and the growing middle class, especially among young women. Her works included The Sicilian Romance 1790, The Romance of the Forest 1791, The Mysteries of Udolpho 1794 and The Italian; or, The Confessional of the Black Penitents 1796. The success of The Romance of the Forest established Radcliffe as the leading exponent of the historical Gothic romance. Her later novels met with even greater attention, and produced many imitators, and famously, Jane Austen’s burlesque of The Mysteries of Udolpho in Northanger Abbey, as well as influencing the works of Sir Walter Scott and Mary Wollstonecraft.

A Sicilian Romance

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book without typos from the publisher. 1792. Excerpt:…
the sate she dreaded, she now turned from in sorrow and dejection. She loved Hippolitus with a steady and tender affection, which was still heightened by the gratitude he claimed as her deliverer ; but she considered it a prophanation of the memory of that brother who had suffered so much for her sake, to mingle joy with the grief which her uncertainty concerning him occasioned. She softened her refusal with a tender grace, that quickly dissipated the jealous doubt arising in the mind of Hippolitus, and encreased his fond admiration of her character. She desired to retire foe a time to some obscure convent, there to await the issue of the event, which at present involved her in perplexity and for row. Hippolitus struggled with his feelings, and forbore to press farther the suit on which his happiness, and almost his existence, now depended. He enquired at the village for a neighbouring convent, and was told, that there was none within twelve leagues, but that near the town of Paling at about that distance were two. He procured horses ; and leaving the officers to return to Palermo for a stronger guard, he, accompanied by Julia, entered on the road to Palini. Julia was silent and thoughtful Hippolitus gradually funk into the fame mood, and he often cast a cautious look around as they travelled for some hours along the feet of the mountains. They stopped to dine under the shade of some beech trees; for, fearful of discovery, Hippolitus had provided against the necessity of entering many inns. Having finished their repast, they pursued their journey; but Hippolitus now began to doubt whether he was in the right direction. Being destitute, however, of the means of certainty upon this point, he followed the road before him, him, which now wound up the fide of a steep hill, whence they de…

The Romance of the Forest

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book without typos from the publisher. 1825. Not illustrated. Excerpt:…
knows, she addressed the Supreme Being, and resigned herself to his care. Her mind theu gradually became peaceful and reassured, and soon after she sunk to repose. CHAPTER V. A surprise an adventure a mystery. The night passed without any alarm : Peter had remained upon his post, and heard nothing that prevented his sleeping. La Motte heard him, long hefore he saw him, most musically snoring; though it must be owned, there was more of the hass than of any other part of the gamut in his performance. He was soon roused by the bravura of La Motte, whose notes sounded discord to his ears, and destroyed the torpor of his tranquillity. ‘ God bless you, master, what’s the matter?’ cried Peter, waking. ‘ are thej come ?’ ‘ yes, for aught you care, they might be come. Did I place you here to sleep, sirrah ?’ ‘ Bless you, master,’ returned Peter, ‘sleep is the only comfort to be had here; I’m sure I would not deny it to a dog in such a place as this.’ La Motte sternly questioned him concerning any noise he might have heard in the night; and Peter full . as solemnly protested he had heard none; an assertion which wa strictly true, for he had enjoyed the comfort of being asleep the whole time. La Motte ascended to the trapdoor, and listened attentively. No sounds were heard, and as he ventured to lift it, the full light of the sun burst upon his sight, the morning being now far advanced; he walked softly along thr chambers, and looked through a window; no person was to be seen. Encouraged by this apparent security, he ventured down the stairs of the tower, and entered the first apartment.’ He was proceeding towards the second, when, suddenly recollecting himself, he first peeped through the crerice of the door, which stood half open. He looked, and distinctly saw a person…

The Mysteries of Udolpho

‘Mrs. Radcliffe wrote six novels; The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 1789, A Sicilian Romance 1790, The Romance of the Forest 1792, The Mysteries of Udolpho 1794, The Italian 1797, and Gaston de Blondeville, composed in 1802 but first published posthumously in 1826. Of these Udolpho is by far the most famous, and may be taken as a type of the early Gothic tale at its best. It is the chronicle of Emily, a young Frenchwoman transplanted to an ancient and portentous castle in the Apennines through the death of her parents and the marriage of her aunt to the lord of the castle the scheming nobleman, Montoni. Mysterious sounds, opened doors, frightful legends, and a nameless horror in a niche behind a black veil all operate in quick succession to unnerve the hero*ine and her faithful attendant, Annette; but finally, after the death of her aunt, she escapes with the aid of a fellow prisoner whom she has discovered. On the way home she stops at a chateau filled with fresh horrors the abandoned wing where the departed chatelaine dwelt, and the bed of death with the black pall but is finally restored to security and happiness with her lover Valancourt, after the clearing up of a secret which seemed for a time to involve her birth in mystery. Clearly, this is only familiar material re worked; but it is so well re worked that Udolpho will always be a classic. Mrs. Radcliffe’s characters are puppets, but they are less markedly so than those of her forerunners. And in atmospheric creation she stands preeminent among those of her time.’ H. P. Lovecraft, ‘Supernatural Horror In Literature’

The Italian

With an Introduction by Kathryn White. He saw her wounded, and bleeding to death; saw her ashy countenance, and her wasting eyes…
turned piteously on himself, as if imploring him to save her from the fate that was dragging her to the grave…
Ann Radcliffe, author of The Romance of the Forest and The Mysteries of Udolpho, is the high priestess of the gothic novel. In The Italian, first published in 1797, she creates a chilling, atmospheric concoction of thwarted lovers, ruined abbeys, imprisonment and dark passages, with an undercurrent of seething sexuality and presents us with a cunning villain in the sinister monk Schedoni. A contemporary review commented on, Radcliffe’s uncommon talent for exhibiting, with picturesque touches of genius, the vague and horrid shapes which imagination bodies forth…
Radcliffe s work was hugely influential and H.P. Lovecraft, early twentieth century master of the uncanny, was impressed by the, eerie touch of setting and action contributing artistically to the impression of illimitable frightfulness which she wished to convey. The novel remains a fascinating, engrossing and unnerving masterpiece of gothic fiction.

Gaston de Blondeville

King Henry III is holding court at Kenilworth. Festivities abound, wine flows copiously, and spirits are high as the King and his subjects prepare to celebrate the nuptials of Sir Gaston de Blondeville. But the joyous mood is interrupted when a merchant, Hugh Woodreeve, comes distraught before the King to demand justice. His kinsman, he claims, was murdered, by the very man the King has come to honour Gaston de Blondeville! Suspecting a conspiracy against Gaston, yet obliged to hold a trial to determine the truth of the allegations, Henry imprisons Woodreeve in a tower while awaiting a hearing. Meanwhile, sinister forces are at work, represented by an evil abbot, who will stop at nothing to ensure the truth behind Woodreeve’s claims is never revealed. As the trial unfolds and the danger mounts for both Woodreeve and Gaston, a mysterious figure will come from beyond the grave to elucidate the horrible mystery! The only one of Radcliffe’s novels to feature a real ghost, Gaston de Blondeville was published posthumously in 1826. This edition, the first ever scholarly edition of the novel, features a new introduction by Frances Chiu, uncoding the novel’s long hidden political, historical, and religious contexts. A wealth of supplementary materials, including excerpts from other primary texts and the complete text of contemporary reviews, is also provided to enhance modern readers’ understanding of the novel’s themes.

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