num_pages: 544
description: 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.
language: English
title: The Italian
titlecomplete: The Italian
genres: Historical Fiction, 18th Century, Gothic, Literature, Horror, Italy, Classics, British Literature, Romance, Fiction
ratings_count: 5370
publisher: Penguin Classics