With an Introduction by Kathryn White Prepare to be shocked This novel written in 1796 is a Gothic festival of sex magic & ghastly ghostly violence rarely seen in literature The Monk is remarkably modern in style & tells a breathless tale of temptation imprisonment & betrayal Matthew Lewis recounts the downfall of Ambrosio the holier-than-thou monk seduced within the walls of a Madrid abbey until he heads for the utter corruption of the soul Meanwhile two sets of young lovers are thwarted & the reader thrills to pursuits through the woods by bandits & is chilled by the spectre of nuns imprisoned in vermin-ridden & skeleton-crowded vaults Late Eighteenth Century audiences were polarised in opinion as to the novel's merits Lord Byron & the Marquis de Sade were impressed by Lewis's daring while Coleridge warned parents against The Monk's suitability for their sons or daughters describing the novel as 'poison for youth If you want a novel that still terrifies over two hundred years after it was written there is none finer than The Monk