Lorna Doone

Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmooris a novel byR. D. Blackmore, first published in three volumes in London in 1869. It is aromancebased on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century inDevonandSomerset, particularly around theEast Lyn Valleyarea ofExmoor. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's surveyThe Big Read.
John Ridd is the son of a respectable farmer in the 17th centuryExmoor, a region in NorthDevonandSomerset, England. A notorious Doone clan, once nobles and now outlaws, murdered John’s father. Battling his desire for revenge, John (inWest Country English, pronounced "Jan")  grows into a respectable farmer who cares well for his mother and sisters. He meets Lorna by accident and falls hopelessly in love . She turns out (apparently) to be the granddaughter of Sir Ensor, Lord of the Doones. Sir Ensor’s impetuous and now jealous heir Carver will let nothing thwart his plan to marry Lorna once he comes into his inheritance.
Sir Ensor dies, and Carver becomes Lord of the Doones. John helps Lorna escape to his family's farm. Since Lorna is a Doone the Ridds have mixed feelings towards her but still defend her against Carver's retaliatory attack. During a visit from the Counsellor, Carver's father and the wisest Doone, Lorna's necklace is stolen. Sir Ensor had told Lorna the necklace was her mother’s. A family friend soon discovers that the necklace belonged to a Lady Dugal, who was robbed and murdered by outlaws. Only her daughter survived.This reveals that Lorna is not a Doone after all, but heiress to a huge fortune. By law, but against her will, she must return to London as a ward in Chancery. Despite John and Lorna's love, their marriage is out of the question.
King Charles IIdies, and theDuke of Monmouth, the late king's illegitimate son, challenges Charles's brotherJamesfor the throne. Hoping to reclaim their ancestral lands, the Doones abandon their plan to marry Lorna to Carver and claim her wealth, and side with Monmouth. Monmouth is defeated at theBattle of Sedgemoor, and his associates are sought fortreason. Although innocent, John Ridd is captured during the rebellion. An old friend takes John to London to clear John’s name. Reunited with Lorna, John thwarts an attack on her guardian, Earl Brandir. The king then pardons John and grants him a title.
The communities around Exmoor have tired of the Doones’ depredations. Knowing the Doones better than any other man, John leads the attack. All the Doone men are killed except the Counsellor and Carver, who escapes vowing revenge. When Earl Brandir dies, Lorna’s new guardian allows her to return to Exmoor and marry John. Carver bursts into their wedding, shoots Lorna and flees. In a blind rage, John pursues Carver. A struggle leaves Carver sinking in amireand John so exhausted that he can only watch as Carver dies. John discovers that Lorna has survived, and after a period of anxious uncertainty they live happily ever after.
Blackmore experienced difficulty in finding a publisher, and the novel was first published anonymously in 1869, in a limited three-volume edition of just 500 copies, of which only 300 sold. The following year it was republished in an inexpensive one-volume edition and became a huge critical and financial success. It has never been out of print.
The book received acclaim from Blackmore's contemporary,Margaret Oliphant, and as well from later Victorian writers includingRobert Louis Stevenson,Gerard Manley Hopkins, andThomas Hardy.George Gissingwrote in a letter to his brother Algernon that the novel was "quite admirable, approaching Scott as closely as anything since the latter".A favourite among females,it was also popular among male readers, and was chosen by male students at Yale in 1906 as their favourite novel.
By his own account, Blackmore relied on a "phonologic" style for his characters' speech, emphasising their accents and word formation.He expended great effort, in all of his novels, on his characters' dialogues and dialects, striving to recount realistically not only the ways, but also the tones and accents, in which thoughts and utterances were formed by the various sorts of people who lived onExmoorin the 17th century.
Blackmore incorporated real events and places into the novel.The Great Winterdescribed in chapters 41–45 was a real event.He himself attendedBlundell's Schoolin Tiverton which serves as the setting for the opening chapters. One of the inspirations behind the plot is said to bethe shooting of Mary Whiddon on her wedding day at the parish church ofChagford, Devon, in the 17th century. Unlike the heroine of the novel, she did not survive, but is commemorated in the church. Apparently, Blackmore invented the name "Lorna", possibly drawing on a Scottish source.
According to the preface, the work is a romance and not a historical novel, because the author neither "dares, nor desires, to claim for it the dignity or cumber it with the difficulty of an historical novel." As such, it combines elements of traditional romance, ofSir Walter Scott's historical novel tradition, of the pastoral tradition, of traditional Victorian values, and of the contemporarysensation noveltrend. Along with the historical aspects are folk traditions, such as the many legends based around both the Doones and Tom Faggus. The composerPuccinionce considered using the story as the plot for an opera, but abandoned the idea.