by Ann Radcliffe

Born in London in 1764, Ann Ward moved to Bath in 1772. There is some uncertainty about her education. She perhaps attended a school run by Harriet and Sophia Lee. Sophia, one of the earliest writers of gothic novels, may have strongly influenced Ann’s future writings. It is known that Ann married the journalist-publisher William Radcliffe in 1787 and began writing with his encouragement. Within a few years she had published the romantic novels The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789) and The Sicilian Romance (1790). The publication of her third novel, The Romance of the Forest (1791), established her reputation as a gothic novelist, and the more successful release of The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) proved her mastery of “terror,” earning her the epithet “Great Enchantress” of the gothic movement (coined by English writer Thomas De Quincey). The work gained similar distinction, attaining enduring...