The Castle of Berry Pomeroy

by Edward Montague

The Castle of Berry Pomeroy, reduced to ruins in the early 1700s, has long been recognised as one of the most haunted places in Britain. It is said that the ghost of Margaret Pomeroy, starved to death in a dungeon by her sister Eleanor, still inhabits the castle today. In The Castle of Berry Pomeroy (1806), Edward Montague adapts the legends surrounding the castle into a Gothic tale of horror, jealousy, and revenge. The Lady Elinor de Pomeroy, envious that her sister Matilda has won possession of the castle and the love of the handsome De Clifford, decides to have her murdered. She enlists the aid of Father Bertrand, one of the blackest villains ever to appear in a Gothic novel. But Matilda's death is just the beginning. Her spectre appears, bringing terror to Elinor and Bertrand, whose ambition and fear of discovery lead them to commit more and more murders. The body count rises and the horror increases, but will Matilda's spectre lead to the discovery and punishment of the villains? A cleverly told story and one of the few Gothic novels to achieve an authentically medieval atmosphere, The Castle of Berry Pomeroy was the first novel by Edward Montague ( The Demon of Sicily , Legends of a Nunnery ). This new edition is the first since 1892. About the author Nothing is known of Edward Montague, aside from the fact that he wrote five books between 1805 and 1808, including three Gothic novels, the most notable of which are The Castle of Berry Pomeroy and The Demon of Sicily . He may also be the author of two other Gothic novels, published in 1807-08 under the name "Edward Mortimer." Both names may well be pseudonyms. About the novel The Castle of Berry Pomeroy was first published in 1806 by William Lane's famous Minerva Press. Only two copies of the first edition survive in world libraries, one in the British Library, and the other in the Corvey Collection in Germany. This edition is newly typeset from the Corvey copy, allowing modern readers and collectors the opportunity to own a copy of this rare Gothic classic.

Genres: Classics, Horror, Gothic, Fiction, Literature

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1806

Reviews

[Josh Vaudrin-McLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the decidedly not-so-lurid title fool you, this is an exceedingly thrilling Gothic novel with all the characteristic tropes of the genre used masterfully, along with well-developed characters (both the heroes as well as the villains), changes in point of view that are not the least bit distracting, and great storytelling in general.

[Book To Nature · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really know what to expect from a book published in 1806 but this story was so good!

I can't sugarcoat it and say it was an easy read in the forward of the book it does say:

"The text is reprinted here verbatim from the first edition, except that a few minor typographical errors have been silently corrected. No effort has been made to modernise or standardise punctuation, spelling, or grammar. Other errors, such as the mysterious change in De Clifford’s name from Thomas to Henry, have also been retained to maintain the flavour of the original text, which bears signs of having been written hastily." So I knew what I was getting into.

With all that being said it is such a good story, full of jealousy, grief, betrayal, love, death, twists and turns I didn’t see coming. After visiting the real Castle Berry Pomeroy I could see how the beautiful place could inspire so much!

For all its flaws this book was brilliant and I have definitely found a new book boyfriend in the form of De Clifford and his love for his Matilda!

"𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙄 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙚, 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙! 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙄 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩! 𝘿𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣, 𝙤𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙙! 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚! 𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩, 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙖, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙚.”

“𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡,” 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚, “𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪, 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙖, 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙—𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙮? 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩."

If you are looking for something different and don't mind a challenge or some rambling descriptions I would recommend this story!