Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) es la escritora más emblemática de la imaginación gótica, y sus novelas fueron punto de referencia para los autores que cultivaron el género. Tres obras se alzan en el altar

"¿Creéis que vuestro corazón está tan endurecido que podréis ver sin emocionaros los sufrimientos a los que me condenaríais?"Una novela gótica impregnada del terror que despierta la lucha entre la supersticion y la racionalidad. El escenario de esta lucha es el espeluznante castillo Udolfo donde Emily Aubert, nuestra heroina romantica que tras haberse quedado huerfana al haber muerto su padre habra de enfrentarse ademas a una suerte de adversidades cuando el malvado Signor Montoni la separa de su enamorado Valancourt y la encierra en el castillo. Nos presenta ante nosotros un desfile de terrores sobrenaturales, fantasmas que viven en la almena del castillo, voces misteriosas, la naturaleza desgarradora con toda la potencia e intensidad que a menudo despliega en la literatura del romanticismo... Todos estos son solamente algunos de los ingredientes que mantienen en vilo la atencion del lector en una novela de terror de la autora mas emblematica de la imaginacion gotica.La historia de Emily se considera una de las mas sublimes del genero y ha tenido gran impacto en obras de autores posteriores, entre ellos Henry James y especialmente en Jane Austen, que hara uso de ella para constatar la ficcion y el misterio con la verdad y las debilidades humanas de su protagonista.-

First published in London by Thomas Hookham in 1789, "The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne" is a gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe, her first novel."The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne" subtitled "A Highland Tale", is set in the feudal Scottish Highlands and centred around the two titular castles of Athlin and Dunbayne. Whilst Athlin "an edifice built on the summit of a rock whose base was in the sea" is home to a refined society headed by the gentle Countess Matlida and her children, Dunbayne is the domain of the villainous Baron Malcolm. The novels plot follows the young Earl of Athlin, Osbert, who seeks to take revenge against the unlawful murder of his father by the Baron Malcolm twelve years earlier after meeting the peasant Alleyn..."The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne" has everything: murder, revenge, battles, damsels in distress, aristocrats, captives, secrets, and, most of all, love. It is a love story in every sense: the love to the Scottish highlands in which it is set, the family love that binds almost above all else, and of course the love between men and women. This short work would later influence Radcliffes other works. At the same time, Radcliffe had an influence on Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and many others who wrote popular gothic novels.

"The Italian", (in full "The Italian; or, The Confessional of the Black Penitents: A Romance") is a novel by Ann Radcliffe, published in three volumes in 1797."The Italian" is a classic gothic novel, renowned throughout history; a tale of secrecy and intrigue that incorporates seemingly supernatural events to explain a very complicated plot.The main plot concerns the attempts of various characters to prevent the marriage of Vincentio di Vivaldi, a gallant and persistent nobleman, to Ellena di Rosalba, a fair maiden of unknown ancestry. The protagonist, Vivaldi, falls in love and plans to marry Ellena, a young woman with a secret family history, against his familys wishes. His mother and Schedoni conspire to separate them by kidnapping and imprisoning Vivaldi. Eventually, Ellenas family history is revealed, allowing her to be acknowledged as a suitable match for Vivaldi.

Novela gótica que transcurre en la Italia renacentista y cuyos héroes, una pareja de desigual condición social, son perseguidos por los padres del joven con la diabólica ayuda del confesor de la madre, al que unen secretos lazos de sangre con la infeliz novia y una grave culpa con la familia de su amante.

With an Introduction by Kathryn White. 'He saw her wounded, and bleeding to death; saw her ashy countenance, and her wasting eyes ...turned piteously on himself, as if imploring him to save her from the fate that was dragging her to the grave...' Ann Radcliffe, author of The Romance of the Forest and The Mysteries of Udolpho, is the high priestess of the gothic novel. In The Italian, first published in 1797, she creates a chilling, atmospheric concoction of thwarted lovers, ruined abbeys, imprisonment and dark passages, with an undercurrent of seething sexuality and presents us with a cunning villain in the sinister monk Schedoni. A contemporary review commented on, 'Radcliffe's uncommon talent for exhibiting, with picturesque touches of genius, the vague and horrid shapes which imagination bodies forth...' Radcliffe's work was hugely influential and H.P. Lovecraft, early twentieth century master of the uncanny, was impressed by the, 'eerie touch of setting and action contributing artistically to the impression of illimitable frightfulness which she wished to convey.' The novel remains a fascinating, engrossing and unnerving masterpiece of gothic fiction.

Dans une église de Naples, le jeune comte Vincenzo de Vivaldi voit pour la première fois la jeune Elena Rosalba. Son attention est attirée, et très vite il devient amoureux. Mais dans cette Italie de

What horrible history lies below the castles in the caverns of Sicily? Located on Sicilys northern shore, the castle of Mazzini was home to the beautiful and clever sisters Emilia and Julia. They have lived there for years with their governess after their father, the marquis, moved to Naples with his second wife. When he unexpectedly returns with their brother Ferdinand, mysterious events begin to occur around the castle. Rooms abandoned for years suddenly have strange tenants. Visiting the castle is a valiant and handsome friend of Ferdinand named Hippolitus, who immediately catches the eyes of both Julia and her stepmother. However, the marquis has his own ideas for who Julias husband should be, and he will stop at nothing to get his way, no matter what the cost to his daughters. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Gothic novel that takes place on the northern shore of Sicily and tells a turbulent history of the fallen aristocrats of the house of Mazzini between love, mystery and suicide.

The Romance of the Forest (1791) heralded an enormous surge in the popularity of Gothic novels, in a decade that included Ann Radcliffe''s later works, The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian. Set in Roman Catholic Europe of violent passions and extreme oppression, the novel follows the fate of its heroine Adeline, who is mysteriously placed under the protection of a family fleeing Paris for debt. They take refuge in a ruined abbey in south-eastern France, where sinister relics of the past - a skeleton, a manuscript, and a rusty dagger - are discovered in concealed rooms. Adeline finds herself at the mercy of the abbey''s proprietor, a libidinous Marquis whose attentions finally force her to contemplate escape to distant regions. Rich in allusions to aesthetic theory and to travel literature, The Romance of the Forest is also concerned with current philosophical debate and examines systems of thought central to the intellectual life of late eighteenth-century Europe.

With "The Mysteries of Udolpho", first published in 1794, Ann Radcliffe raised the Gothic romance to a new level and inspired a long line of imitators.Portraying her heroines inner life, creating a thick atmosphere of fear, and providing a gripping plot that continues to thrill readers today, "The Mysteries of Udolpho" is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the medieval castle of her aunts new husband, Montoni. Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montonis threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors that threaten to overwhelm her.

First published in 1797, this work, with its archetypal villain Schedoni, intense romance between Vincenzo di Vivaldi and Elena di Rosalba, and lofty poetics of the sublime, is the masterpiece of Gothic fiction. Enlisted by Vincenzos mother Marchesa Di Vivaldi, the perfidious monk Schedoni casts a malevolent presence throughout the book as he tries to thwart the passion of the two young lovers. Against the backdrop of the Catholic Inquisition and the unforgettable scenery of the Bay of Naples and the Apennines, The Italian celebrates the heroic struggle of love in the face of malice and deceit. From the first moment Vincentio di Vivaldi, a young nobleman, sets eyes on the veiled figure of Ellena, he is captivated by her enigmatic beauty and grace. But his haughty and manipulative mother is against the match and enlists the help of her confessor to come between them. Schedoni, previously a leading figure of the Inquisition, is a demonic, scheming monk with no qualms about the task, whether it entails abduction, torture-or even murder. The Italian secured Ann Radcliffe''s position as the leading writer of Gothic romance of the age, for its atmosphere of supernatural and nightmarish horrors, combined with her evocation of sublime landscapes and chilling narrative.

Napoli, 1764: Vincenzo di Vivaldi ed Elena di Rosalba, giovani innamorati dall'animo semplice e puro, vedono il loro sogno d'amore contrastato dalla perfida marchesa, la madre di lui, che non ritiene la ragazza all'altezza della sua nobile e ricca famiglia. Ad aiutare la malvagia donna nel tessere la sua trama è il diabolico monaco Schedoni, uno dei personaggi più riusciti della Radcliffe: è lui "l'italiano" che dà il titolo al romanzo, losco figuro dal passato ambiguo, di nobili natali ma caduto in disgrazia dopo essersi macchiato di un'orribile colpa. Discendente del Satana ribelle di Milton e fratello dei Masnadieri di Schiller, Schedoni è diventato in breve prototipo di tutti gli antagonisti del romanzo gotico e oltre. Tra atmosfere cupe e spaventose, colpi di scena, misteri inspiegabili, terribili prove cui sono sottoposti i personaggi, si dispiega una trama che a suo tempo conquistò tantissimi lettori in Inghilterra contribuendo al diffondersi della nuova sensibilità romantica. Con un saggio di Mario Praz. Introduzione di Alessandro Gallenzi.

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) es posiblemente la autora con más carisma entre todos los escritores que, hacia finales del siglo XVIII y comienzos del XIX, cultivaron con pasión un tipo de relato terrorífico que con el tiempo se denominaria literatura gotica o genero gotico. Dos son las obras de Ann Radcliffe que reunen en su trama los elementos mas caracteristicos de un buen relato gotico -castillos tenebrosos, conventos y criptas siniestras, clerigos perversos y heroinas romanticas perseguidas-: Los misterios de Udolfo (Gotica num. 5), y la presente, El Italiano. A las ilustres perseguidas de las pesadillas de Radcliffe hay que añadir ahora a la desgraciada Ellena di Rosalba, victima del monje despiadado Schedoni. Ellena es arrancada de un medio seguro y amable para ser arrojada sin contemplaciones a un mundo horrido y hostil, lleno de amenazas y de peligros, un universo dominado por lo desconocido, cuyo reflejo en la mente de la heroina adopta la sinuosa forma de la angustia. Secuestrada y conducida a un apartado convento, encerrada posteriormente en un castillo bajo el dominio del malvado, Ellena se ve inmersa repentinamente en el ambito gotico, un espacio cerrado, tenebroso, impreciso y laberintico. El Italiano no solo provoca emociones intensas que provienen de lo oscuro e ignoto, sino que tambien hace que el entendimiento se ponga en movimiento para buscar las claves del misterio, dando lugar de este modo a placeres de naturaleza eminentemente intelectual.