THE MONK

Prepare to be shocked. This novel, written in 1796, is a Gothic festival of sex, magic and ghastly, ghostly violence. Remarkably modern in style, it tells a breathless tale of temptation, imprisonment and betrayal. Lewis recounts the downfall of Ambrosio, the holier-than-thou monk who was seduced within the walls of a Madrid abbey and heads for the utter corruption of the soul. Meanwhile, two sets of young lovers are thwarted and the reader thrills to pursuits through the woods by bandits and is chilled by the spectre of nuns imprisoned in vermin-ridden and skeleton-crowded vaults. Lord Byron and the Marquis de Sade were impressed by Lewis's daring, while Coleridge warned parents against the suitability of the novel for their sons and daughters, describing it as 'poison for youth'. 324pp in paperback with a new introduction.