Ann Radcliffe’s second novel,

, was published anonymously in 1790, and tells the solemn history of the once noble house of Mazzini, situated on the northern shore of Sicily. The history is drawn together by a contemporary tourist who is intrigued and inspired by a conversation with a monk whilst exploring the Mazzini castle ruins. The tourist was “permitted to take some abstracts of the history” (2) and committed the story to paper. The rest of the novel is the tourist’s account.

Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Ferdinand, the fifth Marquis of Mazzini, a man of a “voluptuous and imperious character” (3), married Louisa Bernini, and together they had a son, also called Ferdinand, and two daughters, Emilia and Julia. Following the announcement of the

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Citation: Webber, Caroline. "A Sicilian Romance". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 August 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6983, accessed 22 November 2024.]