Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian (1796). One of the masterpieces of the first wave of gothic fiction. Absurdly complicated and melodramatic and and the characterisations are crude.

The book does have considerable strengths though. She is exceptionally good at creating suspense and in ratcheting up the tension. And a reader in the 1790s would have found it easier to empathise with characters obsessed with family honour.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2014/12/ann-radcliffes-italian.html

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