English author Ann Radcliffe (nee
Ann Ward) was born on July 9, 1764 in London and was a pioneer of the Gothic
novel. She married William Radcliffe, an editor for the English Chronicle, at
Bath in 1788. To amuse herself, she began to write fiction, an avocation her
husband encouraged. She published The
Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne in 1789. This set the tone for the majority
of her work, which tended to involve innocent, but heroic young women who find
themselves in gloomy, mysterious castles ruled by even more mysterious barons
with dark pasts. Her works were extremely popular, especially with respectably
sheltered young women. Her other famous works included The Sicilian Romance (1790), The
Romance of the Forest (1791), The
Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and The
Italian (1796). The success of The
Romance of the Forest established Radcliffe as the leading exponent of the
historical Gothic romance. Her later novels met with even greater attention,
and produced many imitators. She died on February 7, 1823, from what is
believed to have been an asthma attack. At the time of her death
there were rumors that she might also have gone insane.
Michael Thomas
Barry is the author of Literary Legends of the British Isles.
The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:
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