A Sicilian Romance

by Ann Radcliffe

Published: 1790

Link: https://librivox.org/a-sicilian-romance-by-ann-radcliffe/

Listening Time: 7 hours 21 minutes


Emilia and Julia are two sisters who live in a remote castle on the island of Sicily, Italy. They are raised by their governess Madam de Menon because their dad already has an older son and doesn't want to give them the time of day. He's off partying in the city with their brother, and their new stepmom, Madame de Vellorno (who is kind of a cougar).

One day Julia and Emilia's dad announces he's coming back and he's bringing a party with him! The girls get really excited because they don't get much of a chance to hang around a lot of people. It kind of feels like Anna in Frozen to me (except they don't sing).

I was totally expecting their brother to be a spoiled jerk but he's not. He's actually really nice and he brought his really cute friend with him! Julia and her brother's bff fall in love and from this point it feels like Julia becomes the primary character in the story. Well, this causes a problem for two reasons: 1) Dad already has another man picked out for Julia, and 2) Stepmom is being all creepy and making unwanted advances towards Julia's intended. Both of them will do almost anything to keep the two apart.

The story has a lot of twists and turns. At one point I stopped reading because it looked like a character (who I liked) died. But when I went back to the story there were even more twists to it. There are a lot of dark secrets in this family but it actually ends pretty happy. :D

I really enjoyed the twists with the girl's governess, she's kind of like the Professor Lupin in the movie version of "The Prisoner of Azkaban": where at first you think he's just a mentor character, but he's also an important link to the past and helps them uncover a bit of a mystery if you pay attention to what s/he's saying.

I think the biggest failing in this book is there isn't as much dialogue as I'd like. I really enjoy how Mrs Radcliff crafts conversation in some of her later stories and there isn't so much of that here. However, it is one of Mrs Radcliffe's first books and she does have A LOT of intrigue and suspense in the story, and I can see how this style developed in her later stories.


This is the end of my Gothic Literary Adventures of 2015.


It's been mostly a solitary adventure. For me it felt like this:

(So I'm glad I got to share some of the #feelings I've been carrying around all year:) )

Next year my reading adventures are to include children's stories: some of which I've read before (Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), others will be a new experience (The Alice in Wonderland series)

I'll also will continue my book vs. movie adventures:

Next will be "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (LOVED the book, We'll see how the 1996 version holds up!).

If you like to read, I invite you to friend or follow me on goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1952119-ebster-davis

If you're not familiar with the site, it's kind of like a social network where you update what books you're reading and what you think of them as you reading. I update there regularly, and I think it's a really fun way to connect with other readers and find new books to read. 

Thanks for sharing this adventure with me! I wish you happiness and peace as we enter the holiday season :D