A Sicilian Romance

by Ann Radcliffe, Alison Milbank (Editor)

Overview

A Sicilian Romance (1790) is a novel by Ann Radcliffe. Published anonymously, Radcliffe’s second novel is a tragic story of love and murder set in the sublime landscape of the Sicilian coast. Considered an essential work of Gothic fiction, A Sicilian Romance is an early example of her prowess as a leading novelist of suspense and the supernatural. “As I walked over the loose fragments of stone, […] I recurred, by a natural association of ideas, to the times when these walls stood proudly in their original splendour, when the halls were the scenes of hospitality and festive magnificence, and when they resounded with the voices of those whom death had long since swept from the earth.” A young tourist wanders through the ruins of an ancient castle. A local friar approaches and, noticing the foreigner’s curiosity, reveals to him the story of the Mazzini family, whose misfortune it was to possess wealth and power at the expense of morality. Possessive and cruel, the Marquis Mazzini seeks to control his daughters’ lives by forcing them to marry the men of his choosing. When Julia falls in love with an Italian count, he commands her to take the hand of the Duke de Luovo. Although she assents, Julia secretly plans to flee the castle with her lover, setting in motion a tale of terror and betrayal. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199537396
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2008
Series:	Oxford World's Classics Series
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	239,843
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) was an English novelist. Born in London, she moved with her family to Bath in 1772 and was known as a shy girl in her youth. In 1787, she married Oxford graduate William Radcliffe, who owned and edited the English Chronicle. While he worked late to supervise the publication of the evening paper, Ann remained at home working on stories for her own entertainment. Eventually, with William’s encouragement, she began publishing her novels and soon became one of the bestselling writers of her time. Recognized as a pioneering author of Gothic fiction, Radcliffe first found acclaim with The Romance of the Forest (1791) and published her magnum opus, The Mysteries of Udolpho, just three years later. By the end of the eighteenth century, Radcliffe found herself at odds with the growing popularity of Gothic fiction and withdrew from public life almost entirely. While several biographers, including Christina Rossetti and Walter Scott, have attempted to piece together the story of her life, a lack of written correspondence and her overall pension for privacy have made her a figure whose mystery mirrors that of her novels.

Table of Contents

About the Author ......... vi

Character List .......... ix

A Sicilian Romance .......... 1

Poem: Sonnet .......... 25

Poem: Evening .......... 45

Poem: Song .......... 88

Poem: Superstition - An Ode .......... 124

Editorial Reviews

'Every Romantic or post-Romantic author you can think of imitated, discussed or cited her.' - John Dugdale, The Guardian

'It was particularly Radcliffe's deft manipulation of the experience or terror and wonder that, together with her superlative skills in the rendition of visual, almost pictorial natural landscapes, most pleased her early readers.' - Dale Townshend, British Library.

From the Publisher