A Sicilian Romance (Oxford World's Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Mrs. Radcliffe and Monk Lewis
Review: I've read all of Mrs. Radcliffe's novels, except for her last one. I must admit that this novel is not as good as The Mysteries of Udolpho. But I think when reading this novel it's important to keep in mind why Ann Radcliffe wrote it in the first place.

It's impossible to appreciate Ann Radcliffe's intentions in writing this book and the complexities of The Italian without having first read Matthew "Monk" Lewis' The Monk. Lewis was so inspired by The Mysteries of Udolpho that he wrote The Monk, which has characters engaging in activities that are horrifying. (Lewis became so identified with his book that he was nicknamed Monk Lewis.) Mrs. Radcliffe was very upset that Lewis was inspired by her book to write his. In response to The Monk, Mrs. Radcliffe wrote The Italian. Mrs. Radcliffe "corrected" in The Italian what she felt was wrong and horrifying about The Monk.

For anyone who finds The Italian lacking at all, I highly recommend he or she read The Monk to gain a better understanding of what Ann Radcliffe was trying to accomplish. And for anyone who has not read The Italian yet, read The Monk first- then I'm sure you will find The Italian a much more enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: A good start for an author who will just get better...
Review: My favourite novel of Ann Radcliffe's is The Mysteries of Udolpho, but I think A Sicilian Romance is a promise of what Mrs. Radcliffe will be able to accomplish in her later books. For Ann Radcliffe and Gothic romance fans, this novel is a must because it plays on all of the classic themes of the genre. This is also great escapist reading to a world very much unlike our own. Radcliffe's heroines and heroes do suffer greatly and go through some extraordinary (perhaps sometimes unbelievable) events, but I find it thoroughly enjoyable to read about their adventures as I am a true romantic at heart. It's good to read about a world where when virtuous people are put through struggles at the hands of villians, the heroines and heroes are able to triumph.

Rating:
Summary: Messy Gothic
Review: Ruined castles, secret passages, evil plotting nobles, things going bump in the night - it's all there. Even the heroines faint every six pages (what was it about females in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - why did they faint at such regular intervals??! - Only joking). This is a book which promised much - the first thirty pages were fairly tedious, designed to set up the characters and plot for the rest of the novel. After that, the story did pick up pace, only to fall apart amid a welter of outrageous coincidences (one does expect this in eighteenth and nineteenth century literature, but this was taking things much too far, to the point where one either became irritated beyond endurance, or as I did, treat it as funny). The main protagonists spend most of the novel chasing each other around various parts of Sicily, discovering long-lost or supposedly deceased relatives and lovers. The book has not put me off reading more of Ann Radcliffe's work, on the basis that this was an early novel: it certainly reads as such. I hope there is better to come.