15 h 23 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 378 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 378 pagesAbout this book
Madrid calls him a saint. What happens when he begins to believe that nothing can stain him?
In Matthew Gregory Lewis’s The Monk: A Romance, Ambrosio commands admiration as the abbot of Madrid’s Capuchin monastery. He takes pride in his purity and welcomes praise. Then the mysterious Matilda awakens desires his sheltered life leaves him unprepared to face. Behind his holy reputation, temptation finds room to grow.
Around him, love struggles against secrecy and cruelty. Lorenzo de Medina loves the innocent Antonia, while his sister Agnes is confined in the Convent of St Clare. Don Raymond loves Agnes, but the ghost of the Bleeding Nun haunts his story. Their interwoven lives lead through secret passages, harsh judgments, and supernatural terrors.
What you’ll discover
- A saint under strain Watch Ambrosio’s pride expose the dangerous gap between public virtue and private desire.
- Matilda’s unsettling devotion Meet a clever, determined woman whose love brings temptation inside the monastery walls.
- Love behind convent walls Follow Agnes and Raymond as their love confronts confinement, fear, and a cruel prioress.
- The Bleeding Nun Enter a world of spectral figures, supernatural visions, and bargains with the devil.
- Innocence meets hypocrisy See how Antonia’s wish for a quiet life contrasts with the darkness around her.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy dark Gothic fiction, haunted castles and moral shocks, and for anyone curious about where the horror tradition began.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Madrid worships a monk who thinks himself spotless
- Young love begins in the shadow of the church
- Agnes, Raymond and the ghost of the Bleeding Nun
- A young novice reveals a startling secret
- One bite and the abbot's will begins to fail
- Magic, a mirror and a desire that grows
- Behind convent walls a prioress punishes a secret
- Pride, hypocrisy and desire are the real subjects
- A patchwork of tales, ghosts and shocks
Who’s who
- AmbrosioThe abbot of the Capuchins in Madrid, raised in the abbey and hailed as a saint, proud of his purity and eager for praise.
- MatildaA clever and determined woman who enters the monastery disguised as the novice Rosario, in order to be near the abbot she loves.
- AntoniaA young, innocent and poor girl who hears Ambrosio preach and is loved by Lorenzo, wishing only for a quiet, honest life.
- Lorenzo de MedinaA noble and open-hearted young man who loves Antonia and searches for his sister Agnes.
- ElviraAntonia's mother, a widow of strong principle who guards her daughter and sees through the abbot's holy reputation.
- Agnes de MedinaLorenzo's sister, who loves Raymond and is shut away in the Convent of St Clare, where a harsh prioress watches her.
- Don RaymondThe Marquis de las Cisternas, who loves Agnes and is haunted by the ghost of the Bleeding Nun.
- The Prioress of St ClareA stern and proud head of the convent who uses religious law to justify cruelty.
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 15 h 23 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 378 pages: 12,95 USD when you start free, 19,95 USD on its own.
- 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
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Monk: A Romance
by Matthew Gregory Lewis · 1796
Madrid hails Ambrosio as a saint, but a tempting novice tests the pride behind his holy reputation.
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In short
The Monk is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796 when he was about twenty years old. Lewis wrote it in only a few weeks, fired up by the horror fiction of Ann Radcliffe and by German tales of ghosts and bargains with the devil.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Madrid worships a monk who thinks himself spotless
The story opens in a Madrid church, where a crowd gathers to hear Father Ambrosio preach. He is the abbot of the Capuchins, and he is thirty years old. He was left at the abbey as a baby and raised by the monks, so he has never known any life outside its walls. The people believe he is a saint, and his sermons draw nobles and common folk alike.
Lewis shows the pull of his voice early. Ambrosio speaks with learning and fire, and his listeners leave in tears. Among them are Leonella, a talkative aunt, and her young niece Antonia, who sees the famous monk for the first time. Their eyes are not the only ones that matter. Everyone in that church sees a man without fault.
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What is The Monk by Matthew Lewis about?
It tells of Ambrosio, a Madrid abbot praised as a saint, whose pride and desire lead him into temptation. Alongside runs a web of love stories, a ghostly nun and a cruel convent.
Why was The Monk so controversial?
Readers in the 1790s found its mix of lust, violence, black magic and attacks on religious figures shocking. Critics called it indecent, and Lewis later softened some passages in new editions.
Who is Matilda in The Monk?
Matilda is a woman who disguises herself as a novice named Rosario to enter the monastery and be near Ambrosio. She is clever and persuasive, and she plays a key part in his temptation.
The author
Matthew Gregory Lewis
1775–1818 · English Gothic novelist and dramatist
Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775–1818) was an English novelist and dramatist. He was born in London and wrote The Monk, published in 1796. His plays included The Castle Spectre, first performed in 1797. He visited Jamaica, where he owned plantations, and died at sea while returning to England in 1818.
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