The RecessFirst published in an era when most novels about young women concentrated on courtship and ended with marriage, The Recess daringly portrays women involved in political intrigues, overseas journeys, and even warfare. The novel is set during the reign of Elizabeth I and features as narrators twin daughters of Mary, Queen of Scots, by a secret marriage. One of the earliest Gothic novels, The Recess pioneered the genre of historical fiction. The novel was also one of the first to describe characters and events from conflicting points of view and was wildly popular in its day. |
From inside the book
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Page xxiv
... mother was also a working actor. During the summer of 1751 she played Juliet to her husband's Romeo, among many other roles played by both in the theater at Richmond. Immediately after the summer season, Anna Sophia Lee went to take up ...
... mother was also a working actor. During the summer of 1751 she played Juliet to her husband's Romeo, among many other roles played by both in the theater at Richmond. Immediately after the summer season, Anna Sophia Lee went to take up ...
Page xxv
... mother, not having had much success in her Dublin engagement, now joined her husband's company for the 1752-53 season.” John Lee is credited with having raised the status and morale of the theater in Edinburgh by making a number of ...
... mother, not having had much success in her Dublin engagement, now joined her husband's company for the 1752-53 season.” John Lee is credited with having raised the status and morale of the theater in Edinburgh by making a number of ...
Page xxvi
... mother died, and that she had to fill her place for the younger children. The date of Anna Sophia Lee's death has yet to be reliably established, however. Although the two most scrupulous recent sources assert (without citing a primary ...
... mother died, and that she had to fill her place for the younger children. The date of Anna Sophia Lee's death has yet to be reliably established, however. Although the two most scrupulous recent sources assert (without citing a primary ...
Page xxxi
... mother's family was engaged in the wine business, and their mother herself, although of Scottish ancestry, had been born in Oporto.” The school had a superb reputation and a fashionable clientele.* The famed actress Sarah Siddons, a ...
... mother's family was engaged in the wine business, and their mother herself, although of Scottish ancestry, had been born in Oporto.” The school had a superb reputation and a fashionable clientele.* The famed actress Sarah Siddons, a ...
Page xxxiii
... mother, the aunt with whom she lived afterward, and her father. He killed himself in 1793 by jumping out of a window in Hampton Court Palace, reportedly because of financial ruin brought on by the “small dowry and expensive tastes” of ...
... mother, the aunt with whom she lived afterward, and her father. He killed himself in 1793 by jumping out of a window in Hampton Court Palace, reportedly because of financial ruin brought on by the “small dowry and expensive tastes” of ...
Contents
vii | |
ix | |
xxxviii | |
Chronology of Events in Sophia Lees Life | xlv |
Note on the Text | xlix |
The Recess or A Tale of Other Times | 1 |
Emendations | 327 |
Notes to the Novel | 331 |
363 | |
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Common terms and phrases
affection alike Ann Radcliffe appeared arms behold bosom Cecil character charm conduct Court cried danger dared daughter dear death Dornock dreadful Duke duke of Norfolk Earl Elizabeth Ellinor England eyes fancy fatal fate favorite fear fortune Frances Burney gave Goldsmith Gothic Gothic fiction Gothic Novel grief hand happy heart Heaven Hester Piozzi hope Hume idea indulgence Kenilworth Kenilworth Castle King knew Lady Arundel Lady Pembroke Lady Southampton Lee's letter London Lord Arlington Lord Burghley Lord Essex Lord Leicester lover Madam marriage married Mary Matilda mind misfortune Mortimer mother nature never noble Norfolk novel once passion perhaps Piozzi pleasure Prince prison Queen of Scots Recess resolved retired Robertson safety secret seemed sense sensible shewed sighed silence sister Sophia Lee soul suffer sunk surprize sweet tears tender thee thou thought tion voice wish wretch youth