The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) is the archetypal Gothic novel. A young woman, Emily St. Aubert, suffers the death of her father, followed by worsening physical and psychological death, mirrored in a landscape of crumbling castles and emotive Alps.
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The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) is the archetypal Gothic novel. A young woman, Emily St. Aubert, suffers the death of her father, followed by worsening physical and psychological death, mirrored in a landscape of crumbling castles and emotive Alps.
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Add this copy of The Mysteries of Udolpho to cart. $29.44, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2018 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
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.
