32 h 39 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 32 h 39 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Behind Udolpho’s locked doors, Emily must guard more than her safety: she must keep hold of her own will.
Emily St. Aubert grows up among the woods and streams of Gascony, learning to love nature, poetry and a life of principle. After she loses her parents, her future rests with her worldly aunt, Madame Cheron. Emily loves Valancourt, a young man who shares her feelings for beauty, but her aunt’s marriage draws her toward a far darker world.
In a gloomy castle in the Italian mountains, Signor Montoni rules by force. Emily faces winding passages, midnight music and rooms the servants refuse to discuss. Ann Ward Radcliffe builds suspense through hints and uncertainty, while Emily struggles to keep fear from mastering her judgment. Against ruthless demands and unwanted courtship, her freedom and her loyalty to herself are at stake.
What you’ll discover
- A castle of secrets Enter echoing halls where shut doors and unexplained lights give Emily fresh reasons to fear.
- Courage without cruelty Follow a thoughtful heroine who tries to meet danger without surrendering her principles.
- Love under pressure Share Emily’s hopes for Valancourt as powerful people press their own wishes upon her.
- Beauty beside terror Move from woods and mountain views to a castle ruled by a ruthless man.
- Fear and the imagination Watch uncertainty deepen as Emily struggles to separate what she imagines from what she knows.
Who will love it
For readers who love atmosphere, old castles and Gothic suspense, and anyone curious about where the Gothic novel began. Romance, mysterious sounds and a young heroine’s courage bring its world of secrets to life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A quiet childhood shapes Emily's character
- Mountains and a young man named Valancourt
- Loss, a strange promise, and burned papers
- An aunt, a rival, and a dangerous marriage
- Venice, a suitor, and the road to Udolpho
- Inside the castle, Montoni shows his power
- Fear, imagination, and the black veil
- Reason against terror, and what the book argues
- How Radcliffe builds suspense and sets a model
Who’s who
- Emily St. AubertA thoughtful young woman raised in Gascony, who loves nature and poetry and tries to meet every danger with courage and calm.
- Monsieur St. AubertEmily's gentle father, a man of taste and principle who teaches her to govern her feelings and keeps a secret from his past.
- ValancourtA spirited young man who meets Emily in the Pyrenees, loves poetry and nature, and wishes to marry her.
- Madame CheronEmily's vain and worldly aunt, who takes her in after her father's death and then marries a man she hardly knows.
- Signor MontoniA proud and ruthless Italian who marries Emily's aunt, wants wealth and power, and rules the castle of Udolpho by force.
- AnnetteA talkative servant who serves Emily at Udolpho, loves gossip and ghost stories, and becomes her companion in the castle.
- Count MoranoA Venetian nobleman who pursues Emily's hand and is favored by Montoni, though she does not return his love.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 32 h 39 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Los misterios de Udolfo 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.
Los misterios de Udolfo
by Ann Ward Radcliffe · 1794
In a remote Italian castle, Emily faces locked doors and ruthless men who try to bend her will.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Mysteries of Udolpho is a Gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe, published in 1794 in four volumes. It was written at a time when readers in Britain were hungry for tales of danger, feeling and strange places.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A quiet childhood shapes Emily's character
The novel opens in the 1580s at La Vallée, a modest estate in Gascony in southwest France. Here lives Monsieur St. Aubert with his wife and their daughter Emily. He is a gentle man of taste who left the fashionable world for a simple life among books, music and the fields. The landscape around the house is described with great care, because Radcliffe wants us to see what Emily loves and what she will later lose.
Emily grows up under her father's teaching. He tells her that feeling must be governed by reason, and that a person who gives way to every strong emotion becomes a slave to it. This lesson is the moral spine of the whole book. When Emily is later frightened, grieved or tempted, we are meant to remember how she was taught to hold herself steady.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Los misterios de Udolfo
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Mysteries of Udolpho about?
It follows Emily St. Aubert, a young Frenchwoman who loses her father, falls in love with Valancourt, and is taken by her guardian's marriage to a remote castle in Italy where she faces danger and strange mysteries.
Who is Montoni in The Mysteries of Udolpho?
Montoni is a cold and ambitious Italian who marries Emily's aunt, Madame Cheron. He leads armed men, lives at the castle of Udolpho, and tries to force Emily to give up her property.
When was The Mysteries of Udolpho written?
Ann Radcliffe published it in 1794. It is a work of fiction, not a true story, though it was set in the late sixteenth century in France and Italy.
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
All 3 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
