The Mysteries of Udolpho and Other Gothic Novels by Ann Radcliffe

by Ann Radcliffe

THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO AND OTHER GOTHIC NOVELS contains five Gothic works by English writer Ann Radcliffe. Radcliffe helped pioneer the Gothic novel, interweaving supernatural elements into a romantic style replete with vivid descriptions of nature and surroundings. Her work proved popular and helped to legitimize the Gothic genre as a distinct new form of writing. Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.br/br/#x2022; The Mysteries of Udolphobr/#x2022; The Romance of the Forestbr/#x2022; The Italianbr/#x2022; A Sicilian Romancebr/#x2022; The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne

Genres: Classics

Nook

First published June 5, 2011

About the author

Ann Ward Radcliffe of Britain wrote Gothic novels, including The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794).

This English author pioneered.

William Radcliffe, her father and a haberdasher, moved the family to Bath to manage a china shop in 1772. Radcliffe occasionally lived with her uncle, Thomas Bentley, in Chelsea in partnership with a fellow Unitarian, Josiah Wedgwood. Although mixing in some distinguished circles, Radcliffe seemingly made little impression in this society, and Wedgwood described her as "Bentley's shy niece."

In 1787, she married William Radcliffe, the Oxford graduate and journalist. He often came home late, and to occupy her time, she began to write and read her work when he returned. They enjoyed a childless but seemingly happy marriage. Radcliffe called him her "nearest relative and friend". The money she earned from her novels later allowed them to travel together, along with their dog, Chance.

She published The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne in 1789. It set the tone for the majority of her work, which tended to involve innocent, but heroic young women who find themselves in gloomy, mysterious castles ruled by even more mysterious barons with dark pasts.

Her works were extremely popular among the upper class and the growing middle class, especially among young women. Her works included A Sicilian Romance (1790), The Romance of the Forest (1791), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and The Italian (1796). She published a travelogue, A Journey Through Holland and the Western Frontier of Germany in 1795.

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.

Stylistically, Radcliffe was noted for her vivid descriptions of exotic and sinister locales, though in reality the author had rarely or never visited the actual locations. Shy by nature, she did not encourage her fame and abandoned literature as a pursuit.

She died on February 7, 1823 and was buried in Saint George's Church, Hanover Square, London.

Reviews

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books were written a couple of hundred years ago. I really liked them all, but they were all a little too much alike and pretty long for maybe not quite a good reason, which is why I said 4 stars instead of five. A whole LOT happed in the plot which made the book very interesting. There were all sorts of what I guess we would call now gothic characters. That is one of the things I like most in the books I read. I think this author knows how to keep your attention for a long time.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this novel, as it is mention in novels by Jane Austin. I enjoyed the book but the descriptions of the landscape were continuous. It was almost as if the landscape was another character.