Clermont (novel)

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Clermont is a Gothic novel by Regina Maria Roche [1]. It was first published in 1798 by the sensationalist Minerva Press and relates the story of the beautiful Madeline, who lives in seclusion with her eponymous father until they are visited by a mysterious Countess from Clermont's past. Madeline travels to complete her education with her and a series of assaults by shadowy foes cannot dissuade her from unravelling the mystery of her father's past and pursuing her paramour De Sevignie. She uncovers the secret of her own noble origins and her virtue proves its strength through a series of trials and tribulations. It was one of the seven "horrid novels" recommended by the character Isabella Thorpe in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey [2]:

“Dear creature! How much I am obliged to you; and when you have finished Udolpho, we will read The Italian together; and I have made out a list of ten or twelve more of the same kind for you.”

“Have you, indeed! How glad I am! What are they all?”

“I will read you their names directly; here they are, in my pocketbook. Castle of Wolfenbach, Clermont, Mysterious Warnings, Necromancer of the Black Forest, Midnight Bell, Orphan of the Rhine, and Horrid Mysteries. Those will last us some time.”

“Yes, pretty well; but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?” – Northanger Abbey, ch. 6

Clermont, as well as the other "horrid novels", were once thought to be the creations of Jane Austen's imagination, however research in the first half of the 20th century by Michael Sadleir and Montague Summers confirmed that they did actually exist and stimulated renewed interest in the Gothic. As of 2006, Valancourt Books was planning to reprint all seven books.^[1]