In A Sicilian Romance (1790) Radcliffe began to forge the unique mixture of the psychology of terror and poetic description that would make her the great exemplar of the Gothic nove, and the idol of the Romantics.

This early novel explores the cavernous landscapes and labyrinthine passages of Sicily's castles and covents to reveal the shameful secrets of its all-powerful aristocracy. Julia and Emilia Mazzini live secluded in an ancient mansion near the Straits of Messina. After their father's return to the island a neglected part of the house is haunted by a series of mysterious sights and sounds. The origin of these hauntings is only discovered after a series of breathless pursuits through dreamlike pastoral landscapes. When revelation finally comes, it forces the heroines to challenge the united forces of religious and patriarchal authority.

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Acknowledgements
Introduction
Note on the Text
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Ann Radcliffe
A SICILIAN ROMANCE
Explanatory Notes

Ann Radcliffe

Edited with an introduction by Alison Milbank, John Rylands Research Institute Fellow, University of Manchester.

'Her own survey of the criticism is lucid and wide-ranging.' -- Times Literary Supplement