The Castle Of Wolfenbach, A German Story [ By: Eliza Parsons ]

by Eliza Parsons

Overview

Matilda Weimar flees her lecherous and incestuous uncle and seeks refuge in the ancient Castle of Wolfenbach. Among the castle's abandoned chambers, Matilda will discover the horrifying mystery of the missing Countess of Wolfenbach. But when her uncle tracks her down, can she escape his despicable intentions?

One of the seven "horrid novels" named in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, The Castle of Wolfenbach is perhaps the most important of the early Gothic novels, predating both The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Monk.

This edition reprints the complete text of the 1793 edition and includes a new introduction and notes by Diane Long Hoeveler, one of the foremost modern scholars of Gothic literature and feminism.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012251220
Publisher:	Publish This, LLC
Publication date:	01/01/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	202 KB

About the Author

She was born in Plymouth in 1739 to a comfortable middle class family and moved to London when her husband's turpentine business was affected by the American War of Independence. The family's fortunes were further debilitated by a warehouse fire and when he died in 1790, Eliza was left alone with eight children. She turned to novel writing to support her large family and produced 19 two volume novels, many of which were in the romantic or gothic vein so popular at the time.

Despite her literary earnings, Eliza remained short of money. Between 1793 and 1803 she received 45 guineas from the Royal Literary Fund and also worked at the Royal Wardrobe. She was imprisoned for debts she had accrued at one point, but the fund's aid saw her released in 1803. She died on the 5 February 1811 in Leytonstone in Essex, leaving behind four married daughters.