Book description
A desolate castle hides a family's shameful secrets ...
On the rocky northern shores of Sicily stands a lonely castle,
the home of the aristocratic Mazzini family. The marquis of Mazzini
has remarried and gone away to live with his new wife, abandoning his
two daughters - sweet-natured Emilia and lively, imaginative Julia -
to wander the labyrinthine corridors alone. His only involvement with
their lives is to arrange a marriage between Julia and the cruel Duke
de Luovo, even though she loves another.
But that is not the end of Julia's troubles. Strange lights and
unearthly groaning noises are coming from parts of the castle that
have been locked up for years. Is it occupied by some terrible
supernatural power? Or do even darker secrets lie within its depths?
Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823) was the leading exponent of Gothic fiction.
During her lifetime she published five novels including
A Sicilian Romance
(1790),
The Mysteries of Udolpho
(1794) and
The Italian
(1797), as well as a collection of European travel writings. Her novels
were immensely popular and much imitated.
