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Along the banks of Badgworthy Water, John Ridd lives on a farm with his family. Although his father was murdered by the Doone clan, Ridd suppresses his anger and hopes to put the past behind him. When he falls in love with Lorna, he enrages her vindictive cousin. Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor is a novel by Richard Doddridge Blackmore.
About the author
Richard Doddridge Blackmore (1825-1900) was an English novelist. Born in Longworth, Berkshire, Blackmore was the son of a Anglican curate. Following his mother's 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.
Summary
Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor (1869) is a novel by Richard Doddridge Blackmore. Praised by some of Victian England’s 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 father’s 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 John’s farm at Plover’s Barrows, Lorna—whose true identity endangers her life—hides 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 Blackmore’s Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers.
