Ann Radcliffe

A best-seller in its day and a potent influence on Walpole, Poe, and other writers of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Gothic horror, The Mysteries of Udolpho remains one of the most important works in the history of European fiction. With its dream-like plot and hallucinatory rendering of its characters' psychological states, The Mysteries of Udolpho is a fascinating challenge to contemporary readers.

The Mysteries of Udolpho

Melis

She sought for one, in which Valancourt had been reading the day before, and hoped for the pleasure of re-tracing a page, over which the eyes of a beloved friend had lately passed, of dwelling on the passages, which he had admired, and of permitting them to speak to her in the language of his own mind, and to bring himself to her presence.

But what reason and effort may fail to do, time effects. 

Ann Ward Radcliffe

If beautiful, orphaned Emily St. Aubert is to resist the predatory demands of her new guardian, the inscrutable Signor Montoni, she must quell the superstitious imaginings that pervade her mind. Within the sombre walls of Montoni's medieval castle the boundaries of real and imagined terrors are blurred as Emily is drawn into a Gothic web of mystery and intrigue which threaten her not only with the loss of inheritance but also identity.

A Romance

Joshua Line

Terry Castle

Bonamy Dobrée

`Her present life appeared like the dream of a distempered imagination, or like one of those frightful fictions, in which the wild genius of the poets sometimes delighted. Rreflections brought only regret, and anticipation terror.' Such is the state of mind in which Emily St. Aubuert - the orphaned heroine of Ann Radcliffe's 1794 gothic Classic, The Mysteries of Udolpho - finds herself after Count Montoni, her evil guardian, imprisions her in his gloomy medieval fortress in the Appenines. Terror is the order of the day inside the walls of Udolpho, as Emily struggles against Montoni's rapacious schemes and the threat of her own psychological disintegration. A best-seller in its day and a potent influence on Walpole, Poe, and other writers of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Gothic horror, The Mysteries of Udolpho remains one of the most important works in the history of European fiction. As the same time, with its dream-like plot and hallucinatory rendering of itscharacters' psychological states, it often seems strangely modern: `permanently avant-garde' in Terry Castle's words, and a profound and fascinating challenge to contemporary readers.

Arianna M

Reviewed on my ig, here https://www.instagram.com/p/CkYtydRMVxn/

Barbara Williford

After seeing this book referenced in many other works of literature, I was intrigued. Radcliffe is a very detailed author and her works are considered gothic literature. The book started out slow but by the second section it picked up quickly. It is a book full of mystery, pirates, plunder, kidnapping, extortion, spirits and twist and turns all the way to the end.

Los misterios de Udolfo

Maribel González

Un 3'5 para esta aventura. Pensaba que lo iba a abandonar y ha acabado gustándome. Es cierto que hay fragmentos que no han aportado mucho y se me hacían cuesta arriba, pero el resto me ha tenido intrigada todo el tiempo. Hay que leerlo con mente de época para no pensar que Emily, la protagonista, es un poco cansina con sus llantos y sus desmayos. Y la autora deja todo muy bien atado. Está dividido en cuatro volúmenes, mis preferidos han sido el 2 y el final del 4. Sin duda, ha sido mejor lectura de lo que esperaba.

Reproduktion des Originals: The Mysteries of Udolpho von Ann Radcliffe

sarah 🤠

final tally of emily fainting: 36
(flat out fainting = 1, feeling faint = 0.5)

Alanna Hammond

I had to read this for class so at times it was difficult to get through. I found it to be really enjoyable at times and the twists were great!

Matthew Chasco

This was the most popular novel of Radcliffe's time and Radcliffe's portrayal of her heroine's inner life raised the Gothic romance to a new level. The atmosphere of fear and the gripping plot continue to thrill today. This is the story of the orphaned Emily St Aubert who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the Castle of Udolpho by her aunt's new husband, Montoni. Here she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors which threaten to overwhelm her.

The Mysteries of Udolpho follows the fortunes of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers, among other misadventures, the death of her father, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle and the machinations of an Italian brigand. Often cited as the archetypal Gothic novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho, along with Radcliffe's novel The Romance of the Forest, plays a prominent role in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey, in which an impressionable young woman, after reading Radcliffe's novel, comes to see her friends and acquaintances as Gothic villains and victims with amusing results.

The Mysteries of Udolpho

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