Ann Ward Radcliffe

First published in 1797, The Italian is Ann Radcliffe's classic creation of Gothic romance. Set against the backdrop of the Holy Inquisition, the narrative revolves around the sinister and mysterious monk, Father Schedoni, and the ill fated lovers, Ellena Rosalba and Vincentio di Vivaldi. With a new introduction and updated notes, this edition examines the formal, historical, and political aspects of Radcliffe's most brilliant work.

A Romance

The Italian, Or, The Confessional of the Black Penitents

Rjyan C Kidwell

There's a pretty amazing recurring joke, where one of the main characters is in great distress and needs some information from somebody, and that somebody insists on giving that information at the end of a long, circuitous story, which causes the distressed protagonist to urge their interlocutor on in an increasingly aggressive, practically-Pythonesque manner. Some of the twists earlier in the story are pretty great, but the ones at the end don't seem to rise as high, and Radcliffe certainly takes her time tying it all up, so the gag seems almost like a self-conscious taunt by the author...

The Italian, Or, The Confessional of the Black Penitents A Romance

Reviews