From the first moment Vincentio di Vivaldi, a young nobleman, sets eyes on the veiled figure of Ellena, he is captivated by her enigmatic beauty and grace. But his haughty and manipulative mother is against the match and enlists the help of her confessor to come between them. Schedoni, previously a leading figure of the Inquisition, is a demonic, scheming monk with no qualms about the task, whether it entails abduction, torture - or even murder. The Italian secured Ann Radcliffe's position as the leading writer of Gothic romance of the age, for its atmosphere of supernatural and...

With The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe raised the Gothic romance to a new level and inspired a long line of imitators. Portraying her heroine's inner life, creating a thick atmosphere of fear, and providing a gripping plot that continues to thrill readers today, The Mysteries of Udolpho is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the medieval castle of her aunt's new husband, Montoni. Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors that...

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...

Beautiful young Emily DOrville lives a peaceful existence in the French countryside with her loving parents. But when tragedy strikes and leaves her an orphan, Emily is separated from her true love Angereau and imprisoned in the Castle of Gorgono, her sinister uncles fortress in the Apennine Mountains. Can Emily escape the horrors of Gorgono, or will she fall victim to Signor Androssi and his murderous friends? And what is the mystery of the horrifying picture that hangs in a locked chamber, shrouded in a black veil?

First published in 1802, The Veiled Picture is a chapbook...

Ruined castles, secret passages, perpetually fainting heroines, the vile conniving schemes of the local gentry -- and, of course, things that go bump in the night: Radcliffe's A Sicilian Romance has all of that, and if Radcliffe didn't invent the form, certainly she brought it into full flower. If you haven't read Radcliffe, this first novel is a fine place to start . . .

Ruined castles, secret passages, perpetually fainting heroines, the vile conniving schemes of the local gentry -- and, of course, things that go bump in the night: Radcliffe's "A Sicilian Romance" has all of that, and if Radcliffe didn't invent the form, certainly she brought it into full flower. If you haven't read Radcliffe, this first novel is a fine place to start . . .

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Ann Radcliffe's second novel, A Sicilian Romance, was published anonymously in 1790. This gothic and mysterious plot concerns the history of the fallen aristocrats of the house of Mazzini, in Sicily in the 16th century and includes castles undergrounds, groans heard in the middle of the night etc. A lovely novel.

The Italian has a dark, mysterious and sombre atmosphere, and concerns the themes of love, devotion and persecution by the Holy Inquisition. It also deals with issues prevalent at the time of the French Revolution, such as religion, aristocracy and nationality.

This gothic novel was Radcliffe's first major popular success. It combines mystery and suspense with an examination of the tension between hedonism and morality.