The Mysteries of Udolpho (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By Ann Radcliffe and Lisa M. Dresner

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading.  The Mysteries of Udolpho has been thrilling readers for over two hundred years and holds a critically important place in the history of gothic literature, the rise of romanticism, and the development of the modern detective novel. The novel has something for everyone: Although Radcliffe subtitled The Mysteries of Udolpho "a romance," this gothic thriller is also in part a travelogue, a sentimental novel, a novel of manners, a female Bildungsroman, and a mystery--it even contains a selection of poems. While readers will enjoy wondering whether heroine Emily St. Aubert will ever escape the clutches of her step-uncle Montoni to reunite with her stalwart lover Valancourt, they will also ponder the eerie music, odd family resemblances, unexpected corpses, and sinister disappearances that haunt Emily--and whose mysteries Emily seeks to solve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781411466227

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.