(England, 1796) Generally regarded as the most depraved and demented of the original gothics, Matthew Lewis’ 1796 classic serves up a high-energy brew of murder, rape, abduction, girls forced into convents, nuns sneaking out for their lovers, pregnant nuns languishing in dungeons, the Inquisition, rioting, witchcraft, a malignant ghost, Satan himself and at least six pairs of lovers. Cruelty abounds.
All this roils around Ambrosio, a monastery-raised monk widely admired for his piety and moving sermons. He’s also very handsome and too naïve to realize that the young boy who recently entered the monastery has ulterior motives.
Now and then, Lewis tortures his prose like his characters, but cut him some slack: he banged it out in 10 weeks and there’s high emotion with erotic desire and/or violence on almost page. Amazon has it on paperback, Kindle and Audible Audiobooks
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