15 h 14 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the ruined abbey that shelters you belongs to the very man you need to fear?
In seventeenth-century France, Pierre de la Motte flees Paris with his wife, fearing arrest and ruin. They take in Adeline, a young woman cast adrift, and seek shelter deep in a forest. A crumbling abbey offers concealment, but its hidden rooms and La Motte’s strange moods make safety feel uncertain.
Then the Marquis de Montalt, owner of the abbey lands, takes a dangerous interest in Adeline. As she searches for safety and the truth about her birth, she meets Theodore Peyrou, a young officer drawn to her. In The Romance of the Forest, Ann Ward Radcliffe brings love and kindness into a world where wealth and rank can bend the law.
What you’ll discover
- Shelter shadowed by secrets Enter a ruined abbey where crumbling walls and hidden rooms turn refuge into unease.
- A heroine who thinks Follow Adeline as she seeks trustworthy people and thinks her way through danger.
- Love under threat Meet Theodore, whose affection for Adeline brings courage into a story shaped by pursuit.
- Fear with human roots Explore mysteries that seem supernatural while cruelty and greed offer a more human source of dread.
- Landscapes worth lingering over Pause among woods, mountains and lakes as Radcliffe gives natural beauty room beside suspense.
Who will love it
For readers who love atmospheric suspense, crumbling buildings, brave heroines and landscapes of woods, mountains and lakes. It also suits anyone curious about the roots of the Gothic.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A family flees Paris by night
- A ruined abbey becomes a refuge
- Secrets stir inside the old walls
- A powerful nobleman arrives at the abbey
- Adeline finds love and a friend in danger
- Flight, pursuit and the pull of Savoy
- Law and power turn against the innocent
- What the novel says about fear and virtue
- How Radcliffe builds suspense and atmosphere
Who’s who
- AdelineA young woman raised in a convent and cast adrift, she wants safety, the truth about her birth and a life where she can trust others.
- Pierre de la MotteA ruined Parisian who flees his creditors, he wants shelter and security, yet his fear and past choices pull him into trouble.
- Madame de la MotteHis gentle, loyal wife, she shows Adeline kindness from the first night and hopes for peace in a household shaken by secrets.
- The Marquis de MontaltA wealthy, polished nobleman who owns the abbey lands, he uses rank and charm to pursue his own desires.
- Theodore PeyrouA brave young officer who meets Adeline in the forest, he wants to protect her and prove his honor.
- Louis de la MotteThe son of the household, he admires Adeline and hopes to win her heart, though she cannot return his feeling.
- La LucA kind, devout man who lives in Savoy, he welcomes Adeline into his home and offers her fatherly care.
- Clara La LucLa Luc's warm-hearted daughter, she becomes Adeline's close friend and gives her a sense of belonging.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 15 h 14 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Read and hear Der Wald von Saint-Clair in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Der Wald von Saint-Clair
by Ann Ward Radcliffe · 1791
Adeline seeks shelter in a ruined abbey, where hidden secrets and a powerful nobleman threaten her safety.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Romance of the Forest is a Gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe, first published in 1791. It was her third novel, and it made her a leading writer of her day.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A family flees Paris by night
The story opens with Pierre de la Motte, a Parisian who is ruined by debts and by his own poor choices. He fears arrest and the loss of everything he has. So he bundles his wife into a carriage in the dark and leaves the city with a few trusted servants. Among them is Peter, a loyal man who stays with the family to the end.
The road offers no safety. La Motte does not know where he is going, only that he must put distance between himself and the law. He drives through the night and into unfamiliar country. Every sound on the road feels like pursuit, and Radcliffe makes you share his nerves from the first pages.
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What is The Romance of the Forest about?
It tells of Adeline, a young woman without family, who finds shelter with a fugitive French family in a ruined abbey. She uncovers old secrets, is pursued by a powerful nobleman and finds love and friendship along the way.
When was The Romance of the Forest written?
Ann Radcliffe published it in 1791. The story is set in seventeenth century France, though the events are invented. It is a work of fiction and not a true story, written in the early years of the Gothic novel.
Is The Romance of the Forest a Gothic novel?
Yes. It has a ruined abbey, hidden rooms, a menacing nobleman and a persecuted heroine. Radcliffe also offers rational explanations for eerie events, a mark of her style that set her apart from rougher Gothic writers.
The author
Ann Ward Radcliffe
1764–1823 · English Gothic novelist
Ann Radcliffe, born Ann Ward, was an English novelist. She was born in London in 1764 and died there in 1823. She married William Radcliffe, a journalist, in 1787. Her novels include A Sicilian Romance (1790), The Romance of the Forest (1791), and The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794).
More by Ann Ward Radcliffe
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