Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: The Italian Author: Ann Radcliffe ISBN: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ Publisher: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ Type of book: Gothic novel, late 1700s, young adult to adult, conspiracy, Inquisition, Italy, monk, hidden identities Year it was published: 1796 Summary: 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 nightmarish horrors, combined with her evocation of sublime landscapes and chilling narrative. Characters: T...

Name of Book: A Sicilian Romance Author: Ann Radcliffe ISBN: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ Publisher: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ Type of book: Gothic novel, late 1500s, young adult to adult, Year it was published: 1790 Summary: In A Sicilian Romance (1790) Ann Radcliffe began to forge the unique mixture of the psychology of terror and poetic description that would make her the great exemplar of the Gothic novel, and the idol of the Romantics. This early novel explores the cavernous landscapes and labyrinthine passages of Sicily's castles and convents to reveal the shameful secrets of its all-powerful aristocracy. (Goodreads) Characters: The characters seem to be one dimensional; they're either purely evil or purely virtuous and somewhat similar to either Cinderella or Mary Sue archetypes. (Women are hated and despised by their father and step mother and don't know anything of society but in the end gain whatever they desire.) I don't think ...

Name of book: Romance of the Forest Author Name: Ann Radcliffe ISBN: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ Publisher: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/ Type of book: Young adult to Adult, historical, gothic Year it was published: 1791 Summary: Set in a Roman Catholic Europe of violent passions and extreme oppression, the novel follows the fate of its heroine Adeline, who is mysteriously placed under the protection of a family fleeing Paris for debt. They take refuge in a ruined abbey in south-eastern France, where sinister relics of the past - a skeleton, a manuscript, and a rusty dagger - are discovered in concealed rooms. Adeline finds herself at the mercy of the abbey's proprietor, a libidinous Marquis whose attentions finally force her to contemplate escape to distant regions. Rich in allusions to aesthetic theory and to travel literature, The Romance of the Forest is also concerned with current philosophical debate and examines systems of thought central to the inte...

Name of book:  The Mysteries of Udolpho Author Name:  Ann Radcliffe ISBN:  0-486-44033-8 Publisher:  Dover Type of Book:  Adult to young adult due to big words, historical, gothic Year it was published:  1794 Summary:  Stranded in a gloomy medieval fortress, an orphaned heroine battles the devious schemes of her guardians as well as her own pensive vsisions and melancholy fancies. Generations of readers have thrilled to The Mysteries of Udolpho, one of the most popular of the early Gothic novels, and considered a landmark in the realm of psychological fiction. Set in 1584, the tale unfolds amid the secret chambers of a chateau in southern France and a castle in the remote Apennines, populated by pirates, brigands, ghosts, and specters. Emily St. Aubert, imprisoned by her rapacious guardian Count Montoni and his sadistic wife, struggles to reconcile her father's teachings of reserve and moderation with her own reckless passions...