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The Monk by Matthew Lewis
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Reading Guide

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The Monk

By Matthew Lewis
Introduction by Hugh Thomas

By Matthew Lewis
Introduction by Hugh Thomas

By Matthew Lewis
Introduction by Hugh Thomas

By Matthew Lewis
Introduction by Hugh Thomas

Part of Modern Library Classics

Part of Modern Library Classics

Category: Fiction Classics | Historical Fiction

Category: Fiction Classics | Historical Fiction

Read An Excerpt

Reading Guide

Read An Excerpt

Reading Guide

Paperback $23.00

Apr 09, 2002 | 400 Pages

Ebook $2.99

Dec 15, 2010 | 400 Pages

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    Paperback
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    • Paperback $23.00

      Apr 09, 2002 | 400 Pages

    Ebook
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    • Ebook $2.99

      Dec 15, 2010 | 400 Pages

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    About The Monk

    When Matthew Lewis’s The Monk was published in 1796, readers were shocked by this gripping and horrific novel. Lewis’s story, which drove the House of Commons—of which he was a member—to deem him licentious and perverse, follows the abbot Ambrosio as he is tempted into a world of incest, murder, and torture by a young girl who has concealed herself in his monastery disguised as a boy. As Ambrosio spirals into hell, the reader encounters an array of haunting characters: the innocent virgin, the Bleeding Nun, the Wandering Jew, an evil prioress, and Lucifer himself.

    This Modern Library Paperback Classic, set from the unexpurgated first edition of 1796, brings to a new generation of readers a timeless classic of gothic fiction that has influenced writers from Byron and Emily Brontë to Poe and Hawthorne.

    About The Monk

    When Matthew Lewis’s The Monk was published in 1796, readers were shocked by this gripping and horrific novel. Lewis’s story, which drove the House of Commons—of which he was a member—to deem him licentious and perverse, follows the abbot Ambrosio as he is tempted into a world of incest, murder, and torture by a young girl who has concealed herself in his monastery disguised as a boy. As Ambrosio spirals into hell, the reader encounters an array of haunting characters: the innocent virgin, the Bleeding Nun, the Wandering Jew, an evil prioress, and Lucifer himself.

    This Modern Library Paperback Classic, set from the unexpurgated first edition of 1796, brings to a new generation of readers a timeless classic of gothic fiction that has influenced writers from Byron and Emily Brontë to Poe and Hawthorne.


    From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Also by Matthew Lewis

    The Monk
    See all books by Matthew Lewis

    Also by Matthew Lewis

    The Monk
    See all books by Matthew Lewis

    Product Details

    Paperback | $23.00
    Published by Modern Library
    Apr 09, 2002 | 400 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 | ISBN 9780375759161

    Ebook | $2.99
    Published by Modern Library
    Dec 15, 2010 | 400 Pages | ISBN 9780307769787

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    Praise

    “The whole work is distinguished by the variety and impressiveness of its incidents; and the author every-where discovers an imagination rich, powerful, and fervid.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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