• Title: The Mysteries of Udolpho
• Author: Ann Radcliffe
• Genre/Subject: 18th century literature
• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication Date: 1794
• Start date: 8/16/24
• Finish date: 8/26/24

Review:

“Emily’s face was stained with blood…” What a great read this was. This was very, very long at 875 pages so I had to prepare myself mentally before beginning it, but I’m very glad I did.

So, first a little bit about the author. Ann Radcliffe was born in 1764, the daughter of a London tradesman. She married a man named William Radcliffe who would later be remembered as the editor of the English Chronicle. Radcliffe wrote a little known first novel called The Castles of something or other and it received little critical or public attention, so little in fact that in 2024 I can’t even recall its name. However, after this lukewarm beginning she went on to write four novels in the next ten years which established her reputation as the leading exponent of the historical gothic romance.

The novel is set in France and Italy in 1534 and revolves around the exploits and misadventures of our plucky heroine Emily St. Aubert. I say plucky but, what with all the fainting and collapsing insensibly she’s not really at the Lara Croft level of pluck. Emily is no dummy though, and she manages to extricate herself from most of the predicaments she encounters. With a little help from devoted servants, heroic chevaliers, and the always reliable secret passages that are more numerous than regular passages throughout the novel.

Radcliffe’s descriptions of the landscapes and scenery are worth reading in and of themselves and despite the often overly romantic episodes this was never a boring read. The prose was like so much of 18th century stuff in that it used a lot more words than were strictly necessary. But once I got into the flow of it that was a minor distraction.

My first encounter with Ann Radcliffe was reading her 1796 novel The Italian in 2006. At the time I found it long, boring and full of hackneyed gothic novel tropes. I was also drinking enough per day to stun a mule so I mention this with reservations. But as is often the case there is some value in first impressions as I have found critical reviews of The Italian to confirm this. Simply, it was her last novel and the public wanted more of the experience that they were used to from the earlier novels. Think of the return of Sherlock Holmes or the last two seasons of MASH.

The Mysteries of Udolpho is a great read for a dark night when the rain is bucketing down outside and you’re tucked up warm and cozy under a pile of blankets. Wow, even by my standards that sounded extremely gay. Seriously though, this was a great reading experience and I recommend that you give it a try, you might not make it through all the way but simply experiencing the atmosphere from a 200 year old bestseller is worth the attempt.