A beautifully crafted tale of gothic romance. Fresh with grief for her recently-deceased father and forced to live with an aunt who doesn't want her, Emily is plunged into a nightmarish world in this terrifying gothic classic by Ann Radcliffe. Having been forced apart from the man she loves, Emily finds herself at the mercy of her aunt's husband, the threatening Count Montoni, who imprisons her in the eerie Castle Udolpho. The cold intimidating fortress walls echo the desolation of Emily's own mind as she confronts the ...
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A beautifully crafted tale of gothic romance. Fresh with grief for her recently-deceased father and forced to live with an aunt who doesn't want her, Emily is plunged into a nightmarish world in this terrifying gothic classic by Ann Radcliffe. Having been forced apart from the man she loves, Emily finds herself at the mercy of her aunt's husband, the threatening Count Montoni, who imprisons her in the eerie Castle Udolpho. The cold intimidating fortress walls echo the desolation of Emily's own mind as she confronts the waking terrors of the castle and the machinations of Montoni. Steeped in atmosphere and full of dark sweeping landscapes, Radcliffe offers a disturbing tale couched in seductive language. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and fantasy to science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. Each book features a brand new biography and glossary of Literary, Gothic and Victorian terms.
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As a fan of Jane Austen, I've enjoyed Northanger Abbey and had wondered about all the Udolpho references. I was unable to force myself to continue reading it after page 400 something. I found the prose lovely for the first three or four pages and after that very repetitious.
For my taste there was not enough action to balance the description. I also had a problem with not really caring about any of the characters, except perhaps the French maid. The heroine's propensity to faint when the going got tough was perhaps what was expected of genteel young women of the time, but I found it extremely irritating.
If one were on a desert island and it was the only book available, I'd say read this book. Otherwise, I could not honestly recommend it.
