The Italian

Written by Ann Radcliffe

Narrated by Georgina Sutton

Vincentio di Vivaldi has fallen in love with Ellena Rosalba. However, his proud and noble family vehemently oppose the match: they cannot allow him to wed someone with no money or social standing. Thus, his mother, the mean-spirited Marchesa, and her minion, the evil monk Father Schedoni, set in motion a malign plot that has Ellena kidnapped and imprisoned in a convent, to prevent a hasty marriage. Vivaldi’s attempt to free Ellena leads to his arrest and incarceration in the dungeons of the Inquisition, a terrifying maze of tunnels and chambers beneath Rome, while Ellena is taken to a lone dwelling by the sea... In part a response to Matthew Lewis’s The Monk, The Italian is a deeply atmospheric novel, combining sublime landscapes and unnerving feelings of fear and dread. It is one of the landmarks of Gothic fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks
• Release date: Feb 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781781984420

Ann Radcliffe

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) was an English novelist. Born in London, she moved with her family to Bath in 1772 and was known as a shy girl in her youth. In 1787, she married Oxford graduate William Radcliffe, who owned and edited the English Chronicle. While he worked late to supervise the publication of the evening paper, Ann remained at home working on stories for her own entertainment. Eventually, with William’s encouragement, she began publishing her novels and soon became one of the bestselling writers of her time. Recognized as a pioneering author of Gothic fiction, Radcliffe first found acclaim with The Romance of the Forest (1791) and published her magnum opus, The Mysteries of Udolpho, just three years later. By the end of the eighteenth century, Radcliffe found herself at odds with the growing popularity of Gothic fiction and withdrew from public life almost entirely. While several biographers, including Christina Rossetti and Walter Scott, have attempted to piece together the story of her life, a lack of written correspondence and her overall pension for privacy have made her a figure whose mystery mirrors that of her novels.