Cover of The Monk: A Romance by M. G. Lewis Audiobook The Monk: A Romance
Audiobook · Fractal Press

The Monk: A Romance

Author
M. G. Lewis
Read by
Finian Silverwood
Language
English
Length
13 hours 55 minutes
ISBN
9781802566864
Published
24 June 2025
Imprint
Fractal Press
  • Gothic fiction
  • supernatural horror
  • Catholic Church
  • moral corruption
  • demonic temptation
  • medieval romance
  • Spain
  • forbidden love
  • dark fantasy
  • religious fanaticism

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Description

The Monk: A Romance is a dark and sensational Gothic novel set in 18th-century Spain. It follows Ambrosio, a revered monk in Madrid, whose excessive pride and secret vanity lead to his moral downfall. Tempted by a mysterious young novice—later revealed as the demoness Matilda—he succumbs to lust, betrayal, and murder. As his sins spiral into horror, Ambrosio faces divine punishment, culminating in a chilling descent into damnation. Blending supernatural terror, eroticism, and religious fanaticism, Lewis’s novel shocked readers with its graphic scenes and moral ambiguity, securing its place as a landmark of early Gothic literature and a critique of absolute power and hypocrisy within the Church.

Author

Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775–1818), known as 'Monk' Lewis after his scandalous 1796 novel The Monk, was an English writer who helped ignite the Gothic horror genre. Written at the age of nineteen, The Monk shocked Regency readers with its lurid blend of the supernatural, the erotic, and the diabolical.

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