Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor

(Hardback)

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Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor (1869) is a novel by Richard Doddridge Blackmore. Praised by some of Victian Englands leading authors, including Robert Louis Stevenson, George Gissing, and Thomas Hardy, Lorna Doone was published anonymously and sold poorly in its first edition. Republished the following year in an inexpensive format, the book became a huge success for Blackmore, and remains his only novel in print. Raised in the hill country of Exmoor, John Ridd is forced to take over his family farm at a young age following his fathers murder at the hands of the Doone clan. Determined to succeed, he endeavors to do right by his mother and younger siblings, raising their crop by the banks of Badgworthy Water. Ready to put the past behind him, he unexpectedly falls for the beautiful Lorna, the granddaughter of Sir Ensor Doone. When Ensor dies, the Doone estate passes to her cousin Carver, who believes he is destined to marry Lorna. Forced to flee to Johns farm at Plovers Barrows, Lornawhose true identity endangers her lifehides from her cousin Carver at the home of a family which knows all too well the dangers of trusting a Doone. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Richard Doddridge Blackmores Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Author Bio

Richard Doddridge Blackmore (1825-1900) was an English novelist. Born in Longworth, Berkshire, Blackmore was the son of a Anglican curate. Following his mothers death from typhus, Blackmore was raised by his aunt for several years before returning to live with his father in the rural countryside of Exmoor. He excelled as a student of classics, earning a scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1847. As he worked on his first novel, Blackmore found employment as a tutor before switching career paths and entering law school. Due to ill health, however, he returned to teaching and later moved to the riverside town of Teddington with his wife and children. There, he devoted himself to his writing, publishing Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor (1869), his most successful novel, to resounding acclaim. Recognized as a pioneering author whose work inspired Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Hardy, Blackmore spent the rest of his life at Gomer House in Teddington, where he remains buried next to his beloved wife Lucy.