Customer Reviews

Mystery of the Black Tower (Gothic Classics)

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I am with Valancourt Books, the publisher of this title. I do not know why Amazon has not posted the item information for this title, but I would like to provide it for those interested. The information is also available on the Valancourt Books website. From the back cover of The Mystery of the Black Tower:

"Set in the violent times of Edward III, when England is at war against the Scots and the French, The Mystery of the Black Tower is the story of young Leonard, who longs to escape the anonymity of his peasant's life. Seeking to win fame and renown, Leonard enlists in England's army, where he earns knighthood and the favour of the King.

But when his true love, the beauteous Emma, is kidnapped and imprisoned in the haunted Black Tower, Leonard must save her.
Aided by his loyal but cowardly squire Owen, Leonard will face a series of adventures along the way. Finally, he will have to face an old nemesis in a duel to the death and escape a troop of robbers before he can rescue Emma and discover the secret of his own birth!

Influenced by Don Quixote and Clara Reeve's The Old English Baron, The Mystery of the Black Tower was popular with the Gothic reading public upon its release in 1796. Critically acclaimed in its own time, and influential on later writers such as Scott and Ainsworth, it ranks among the finest historical Gothic novels. This edition includes a new introduction for modern readers, as well as the text of contemporary reviews."

Hope this is helpful!

I won't rehash the plot of the novel since it can be seen above, but the Mystery of the Black Tower by John Palmer is a well-done gothic novel. Though it turns out nothing supernatural actually happens, we have noble children secretly hidden away in peasant families, locked away damsels in distress, brave knights, complete and utter [...] knights, cowardly squires, and several crumbling-their-splendor-was-awesome-in-the-distant-past-but-has-now-faded castles. My main gripe with the novel is the overuse of background information to set the time and place of the story. The pages and pages of historical recitation was very distracting. Overall though, I found the story to be very enjoyable.