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The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) is a novel by Eliza Parsons.
Employing themes common to the popular genre of Gothic fiction,
Parsons crafts a chilling tale of murder and mystery that remains
uniquely entertaining to this day. Referred to as a "horrid" novel
in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, The Castle of Wolfenbach was
recognized as a terrifying precursor to such classics as Ann
Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), often considered the
quintessential Gothic novel. Orphaned as a young girl, Matilda
Weimar is raised by her uncle, a domineering figure whose
attentions soon turn abusive. Left with no choice, Matilda flees
with her trusted servant Albert. They arrive after some time in the
harsh countryside at the cottage of Pierre and Jaqueline, who have
only one bed and no food to offer. Desperate, Matilda and Albert
make their way to the haunted Castle of Wolfenbach, where
caretakers Joseph and Bertha offer to give them shelter. Although
they seem hesitant, the caretakers reveal that the Count was a
terrible man who left his wife and children to die in captivity and
advise their unexpected guests to be gone by morning. As night
falls, Matilda hears strange sounds coming from inside the castle,
and sneaks up into the tower to investigate. There, she encounters
a woman and her servant, who are surprised to find a stranger in
their midst. Sensing their sympathy, Matilda recounts the story of
her life. The next day, after Matilda and Albert have left for
France, the castle burns to the ground-but its mystery remains.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset
manuscript, this edition of Eliza Parsons' The Castle of Wolfenbach
is a classic of British horror fiction reimagined for modern
readers.
The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) is a novel by Eliza Parsons.
Employing themes common to the popular genre of Gothic fiction,
Parsons crafts a chilling tale of murder and mystery that remains
uniquely entertaining to this day. Referred to as a "horrid" novel
in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, The Castle of Wolfenbach was
recognized as a terrifying precursor to such classics as Ann
Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), often considered the
quintessential Gothic novel. Orphaned as a young girl, Matilda
Weimar is raised by her uncle, a domineering figure whose
attentions soon turn abusive. Left with no choice, Matilda flees
with her trusted servant Albert. They arrive after some time in the
harsh countryside at the cottage of Pierre and Jaqueline, who have
only one bed and no food to offer. Desperate, Matilda and Albert
make their way to the haunted Castle of Wolfenbach, where
caretakers Joseph and Bertha offer to give them shelter. Although
they seem hesitant, the caretakers reveal that the Count was a
terrible man who left his wife and children to die in captivity and
advise their unexpected guests to be gone by morning. As night
falls, Matilda hears strange sounds coming from inside the castle,
and sneaks up into the tower to investigate. There, she encounters
a woman and her servant, who are surprised to find a stranger in
their midst. Sensing their sympathy, Matilda recounts the story of
her life. The next day, after Matilda and Albert have left for
France, the castle burns to the ground-but its mystery remains.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset
manuscript, this edition of Eliza Parsons' The Castle of Wolfenbach
is a classic of British horror fiction reimagined for modern
readers.
The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis
vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the
letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no
actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take
no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable
manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the
world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated
life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and
apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and
her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.
The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis
vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the
letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no
actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take
no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable
manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the
world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated
life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and
apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and
her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.
Eliza Parsons, nee Phelp, (1739-1811) was an English gothic
novelist. She was born in Plymouth 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. Her work is generally agreed to be of varying
quality, produced as it was out of financial necessity to meet
popular tastes but her two most enduring works are The Castle of
Wolfenbach in 1793 and The Mysterious Warning: A German Tale in
1796. Her other works include: The History of Miss Meredith (1790),
Women as They Are (1797), Anecdotes of Well-Known Families (1798)
and The Valley of St. Gothard (1799).
The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis
vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the
letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no
actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take
no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable
manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the
world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated
life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and
apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and
her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.
The good old Count Renaud is dead, and his will makes the
degenerate Rhodophil his heir, disinheriting his other son
Ferdinand, who has married against his father's wishes. Rhodophil
promises to share his new riches with his younger brother and his
wife Claudina, but Ferdinand hears a mysterious voice from beyond
the grave, warning him to flee his brother and his wife to save
himself from sin and death
Ferdinand obeys the supernatural warning and sets out to find
fortune and adventure. In the course of his quest he will encounter
a recluse in a ruined castle with a horrible secret, find himself
captured and imprisoned by the Turkish army, and encounter one of
Gothic literature's most depraved female characters, the monstrous
Fatima. And if he survives all these dangers, Ferdinand must return
to Renaud Castle to solve the mystery of the ghostly voice and
uncover the terrible truth about his wife and his brother
This edition includes the unabridged text of the four volume
1796 edition, with a new introduction and notes by Karen Morton,
and reproductions of illustrations from the 1796 and 1824
editions.
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.
The whole affair is certainly very strange: often has the Marquis
vowed to apply either to the Count or courts of justice; but the
letters we received were never written by her, we could adduce no
actual proofs of his guilt, and she continually warned us to take
no steps without her permission. Thus, in a most unaccountable
manner we are prohibited from doing her justice, whilst all the
world believes her dead: he lives chiefly at Vienna, a dissipated
life; though from my friend I hear he is at times gloomy, and
apparently unhappy: this gentleman however believes my sister and
her child dead, nor dare I undeceive him.
In her novel NORTHANGER ABBEY, Jane Austen mentions several Gothic
novels by name. By the time the book saw print, these lesser works
were already deservedly obscure (as, indeed, almost all disposable
popular fiction soon becomes). For years they were assumed to be
not simply fiction, but figments from a novel; but enterprising
scholars managed to unearth copies of the original "shilling
shockers." Eliza Parsons was a prolific and popluar writer at the
end of the eighteenth century. Her works are generally forgotten,
now, but two of them -- including THE CASTLE OF WOLFENBACH -- were
immortalized in that list of seven "Horrid Novels" Jane Austen
slipped into NORTHANGER ABBEY.
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