The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe

I’ve read about “Mrs. Radcliffe’s novels” in other novels I’ve read, such as those by Georgette Heyer, but I didn’t realize that she was actually a real person until my husband gave me two of her books for Christmas.  The Romance of the Forest was interesting to read as an excellent example of Gothic horror.  The characters are all in tune with their feelings, to borrow the modern phrase.  When someone feels something, they really feel it!  The heroine Adeline is constantly being overcome with terror, fear, sorrow, gratitude.  Even the male characters shed tears.  There is plenty of fainting, of course.  The heroine has every good and noble quality, and no bad.  When she is on the point of losing all to the evil Marquis (it has to be a Marquis, of course), she is forced to “dissimulate” in an attempt to save her virtue.  However, Radcliffe makes it clear that Adeline has an abhorrence of such dissimulation, but is driven to it only to save herself from a fate worse than death.  Published in 1791, this book is a good introduction to the Gothic genre.