Essential Novelists - Ann Radcliffe

suspense with romantic sensibility

Welcome to the Essential Novelists book series, were we present to you the best works of remarkable authors. For this book, the literary critic August Nemo has chosen the two most important and meaningful novels of Ann Radcliffe which are The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne and A Sicilian Romance. Ann Radcliffe was one the most representative of English Gothic novelists. She stands apart in her ability to infuse scenes of terror and suspense with an aura of romantic sensibility. There is little physical horror in Radcliffe's "tales of terror," and elements that seem to be supernatural are usually found to have some rather disappointing natural explanation. Her characterization is usually weak, her historical insight is almost nonexistent, and her stories abound in anachronisms and impossibilities. But Radcliffe's admirers cared as little for "realism" or accuracy as she did. They reveled in her romanticized views of nature, her intimations of evil, and her prolonged scenes of suspense. Novels selected for this book: The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne A Sicilian Romance This is one of many books in the series Essential Novelists. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the authors.