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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 716 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 716 pagesAbout this book
What if the girl you love lives among the outlaws who killed your father?
In R. D. Blackmore’s Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor, John Ridd looks back on his youth in the wilds of western England. The Doones kill his father and threaten the farms around their hidden valley. Then a dangerous climb beside a waterfall brings young John face to face with Lorna.
Raised among the outlaws, Lorna longs for freedom. John grows into a strong, shy farmer whose love draws him toward the people his family fears. Carver Doone wants Lorna for himself, while the country stands on the edge of rebellion. Across moorland, farms and snowbound paths, private hopes meet the brutal rule of force.
What you’ll discover
- A love hard won Follow a courtship caught between family grief, fierce loyalty and the longing for freedom.
- Exmoor in every season Enter hills, streams and deep winter snow that shape the choices of those living there.
- An honest farmer’s voice Settle into John’s unhurried account, where family life carries as much weight as adventure.
- Outlaws behind the waterfall Discover the hidden valley where the Doones rule through strength and fear.
- Warmth beside the danger Meet sensible Annie Ridd, devoted Gwenny Carfax and John’s cheerful highwayman cousin, Tom Faggus.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy a love story among wild hills, a warm and funny storyteller, vivid weather, and a hero who is strong and shy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- One night ends John's childhood
- Fear gives the Doones their power
- A waterfall leads John to Lorna
- The law leaves victims seeking justice
- Love draws John into secret meetings
- Lorna's own family threatens her freedom
- John carries plain truth into London
- Rescue cannot remove every barrier
- Love faces rank and guarded boundaries
Who’s who
- John RiddA big, slow-spoken Exmoor farmer who tells the story and wants to protect his family and win Lorna.
- Lorna DooneA dark-eyed girl raised among the robbers, who longs for a quiet, honest home and dreads a forced marriage.
- Carver DooneThe Counsellor's son, a powerful and cruel outlaw who wants Lorna for himself.
- Sir Ensor DooneThe old, stern leader of the Doones, who guards Lorna as his heiress.
- Tom FaggusA merry highwayman and John's cousin, who rides the mare Winnie and loves Annie.
- Annie RiddJohn's gentle younger sister, who keeps his secrets and cooks his supper.
- Uncle Reuben HuckabackA rich, sharp Dulverton trader who wants revenge on the Doones and has secrets of his own.
- Jeremy SticklesA hungry, quick-witted King's officer who comes to watch the Doones and the West Country.
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Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor
by R. D. Blackmore · 1869
A farm boy climbs a waterfall into a robber valley and meets a girl named Lorna Doone.
Challenging10–20 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What would you do if outlaws killed your father on the road home from market? John Ridd, a twelve-year-old schoolboy in 1673, is called away from Blundell's school in Tiverton and learns exactly that.
Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor at a glance
- Reading time
- About 17 h 40 min14 h fast, 21 h slow
- Length
- 252,100 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1869by R. D. Blackmore
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A birthday fight brings sad news home
The book opens with John Ridd, now an old man, promising to tell a simple tale simply. He is a yeoman of Oare parish on Exmoor, sent to Blundell's school at Tiverton.
On the day he turns twelve, in 1673, he must fight the bigger Robin Snell by candlelight on a patch of turf called the Ironing-box. Then the farmhand John Fry arrives with John's pony and troubling news. Fear makes John fight like a lad with nothing left to lose, and he wins.
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A farm boy climbs a waterfall into a robber valley and meets a girl named Lorna Doone.
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Details
- First published
- 1869
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 716 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 716 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 716 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 716 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
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Cite this edition
Blackmore, R. D. Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/lorna-doone-a-romance-of-exmoor.
Blackmore, R. D. (2026). Lorna Doone: A romance of Exmoor. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lorna-doone-a-romance-of-exmoor (Original work published 1869)
Blackmore, R. D. Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lorna-doone-a-romance-of-exmoor.
@book{blackmore2026lorna,
author = {Blackmore, R. D.},
title = {Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/lorna-doone-a-romance-of-exmoor},
note = {First published 1869}
}
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What is Lorna Doone about?
It tells how John Ridd, a strong Exmoor farmer, loves Lorna, a girl raised among the outlaw Doones who killed his father. It mixes romance, adventure and country life in the late seventeenth century.
Is Lorna Doone a true story?
No, it is a romance, though it draws on Exmoor legends of the Doones and of the highwayman Tom Faggus. R. D. Blackmore published it in 1869, and it is set in the 1670s and 1680s.
Who are the Doones?
The Doones are a family of noble outlaws, led by Sir Ensor Doone, who live in a hidden valley on Exmoor. They rob and terrify the neighbors, and no magistrate dares stop them.
The author
R. D. Blackmore
1825–1900 · English novelist
R. D. Blackmore was an English novelist born in Longworth, Berkshire, in 1825. His full name was Richard Doddridge Blackmore. He wrote Lorna Doone, published in 1869, and other novels. He lived for many years in Teddington, Middlesex, where he also grew fruit. He died there in 1900.
“Ridd never be ridden.”
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