Ann Radcliffe’s The Romance of the Forest is among the earliest Gothic novels, published in 1791. There were two things about this novel which caught me by surprise: first, that Adeline was introduced so abruptly and mysteriously—thrust upon La Motte as though she were a cursed object some shopkeeper was eager to be rid of—and second, that this Gothic romance suddenly transformed near the end into a courtroom drama with Poe-like ratiocination.

Early patterns in the Gothic are quite apparent throughout: dilapidated buildings paired with sublime natural scenes, hearts and minds disturbed by guilt of every flavor, a scheming and depraved nobleman or two, lovers kept apart by a jealous and rejected suitor, letters from a formerly imprisoned dead, a skeleton in a trunk, hidden doors . . . but there are other future-patterns I had not anticipated which I wonder if Radcliffe has here established. Her novel is dotted with poems “written by” Adeline, something I have seen not infrequently in fantasy novels (Mercedes Lackey comes to mind). Is the courtroom drama that exposes and resolves all of the mysteries surrounding Adeline the first of its kind?

I also adored the earnest depiction of men who were both masculine and tender. La Luc, Theodore, and Louis all demonstrate an emotional depth often absent in modern depictions of men. Even the villain and his henchmen had emotional depth when given any kind of moment in the light. Considering the proliferation of toxic masculinity in both real life and literature—and the lesser offense of the near-emotionless action hero who suppresses the “weakness” of emotional vulnerability, which is near-universally represented.

If you have a reason to read it, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how fun this one is. If you don’t, I don’t think that I would recommend it as a casual read for most people.