The Monk

Matthew Gregory Lewis

Jan 2015 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

In what is widely considered to be the first Gothic novel, a monk must resist a temptation that could consume his soul

Ambrosio has developed a reputation across Madrid for his piety and selflessness in his role as a monk. Left on the abbey’s doorstep as a child, Ambrosio took quickly to monastic life, and his fellow monks pronounced him a gift from the Virgin Mary. Despite his virtue, his status as the abbey’s favorite son is put in jeopardy with the arrival of Matilda, a woman with a terrible secret who disguises herself as a monk to be closer to Ambrosio.

A sensational Gothic horror novel that is as stunning to readers today as it was two hundred years ago, The Monk is a shocking rumination of the nature of good and evil, and a morality tale that explicitly details the consequences of desire.

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Ratings and reviews

The epitome of the Gothic novel. Yes, it's absurd but this is what they read and loved at the time it was first published. I laughed and was horrified. Great read! I couldn't put it down.

gripping and powerful. It makes you both love and fear religion.

Good read

About the author

Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775–1818) was an English author and playwright. Strongly influenced by the work of Ann Radcliffe and an adolescence spent learning languages in Europe, Lewis wrote his classic work The Monk in only ten weeks, earning himself the nickname “Monk” Lewis for the rest of his life. He went on to become a member of the English Parliament and an attaché to the British embassy in the Hague.