'He was deaf to the murmurs of conscience, and resolved to satisfy his
desires at any price.' The Monk (1796) is a sensational story of temptation
and depravity, a masterpiece of Gothic fiction and the first horror novel
in English literature. The respected monk Ambrosio, the Abbot of a Capuchin
monastery in Madrid, is overwhelmed with desire for a young girl; once
having abandoned his monastic vows he begins a terrible descent into
immorality and violence. His appalling fall from grace embraces blasphemy,
black magic, torture, rape, and murder, and places his very soul in
jeopardy. Lewis's extraordinary tale drew on folklore, legendary ghost
stories, and contemporary dread inspired by the terrors of the French
Revolution. Its excesses shocked the reading public and it was condemned as
obscene. The novel continues to beguile and shock readers today with its
gruesome catalogue of iniquities, while at the same time giving a profound
insight into the deep anxieties experienced by British citizens during one
of the most turbulent periods in the nation's history. ABOUT THE SERIES:
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