John encounter their sweet young 'Queen' Lorna, who wants none of their mayhem, on several occasions during her childhood, until they finally meet as teens, though he is much older. That den of some 40 thieves has long been a thorn in the side of honest landowners and the local constabulary. The tale opens when 12-year-old John Ridd (the hero/narrator) of Somerset returns home from school to discover that his father has been murdered by a renegade band of footpads and cutthroats-the Doone clan. Yet for the majority of the novel, the plot moves swifly apace over several years, reaching a satisfactory denoument, with most of the young people married off and Justice being served. Expect highly improbable plot contrivances, with unrealistic events thrown in to help the romantic protagonists. It was slow getting into, but one must make allowances for Blackmore's (to us) antiquated style: archaic vocabulary, country dialect to slog through, plus a great deal of religious and political warfare-obscure historical references for most Americans. In my opinion, LORNA is much more readable and almost enjoyable. This book is quite different from Blackmore's AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND no intertwined Fact and Fantasy here, but a curious blend of Romance and Adventure, as if the author were not entirely certain which genre he was brewing up in the wild countryside. Novels written in the 19th century are not everyone's cup of English tea, so taste therefrom with literary trepidation. 'Forbidden Romance in the Ruthless Highlands'

Lorna doone novel