Rare letter discovered by chance in archive reveals fraught family matters strikingly akin to one of her plots
A chance discovery in an archive of an extraordinarily rare letter by the queen of gothic fiction Ann Radcliffe has opened a window onto the life of a writer about whom almost nothing is known. And
it turns out, says the curator who made the discovery, that the author of The Mysteries of Udolpho
suffered from an affliction with which many would still sympathise today: an exasperating mother-in-law.
Radcliffe, whose novel The Mysteries of Udolpho was affectionately lampooned by Jane Austen in Northanger Abbey, is known as a pioneer of gothic fiction and was one of the most popular writers of her time; Walter Scott called her a "mighty enchantress". Hardly anything is known about her personal life, however: the Edinburgh Review noted after her death in 1823 that she "never appeared in public, nor mingled in private society, but kept herself apart, like the sweet bird that sings its solitary notes, shrouded and unseen".
Rumours sprung up at the time that her terrifying writing had driven her into a lunatic asylum, and that she ate raw meat before bed to summon up the nightmares that would fuel her imagination. Christina Rossetti later abandoned a biography of the author because there was too little information available about her life.
Only two manuscripts in the world were thought to exist in her hand, one of those only a signature – until Greg Buzwell, a curator at the British Library, came across a letter to Radcliffe's mother-in-law believed to have been written by the author at the end of the 18th century, inside a volume of miscellaneous letters.
"It was one of those rare moments which brought a tear to a dusty old curator's eye," he said. "The Ann Radcliffe letter is really exciting for us."
The British Library believes the letter "will provide the most personal insight yet into the author". Taking a no-nonsense tone, it sees the novelist addressing her mother-in-law Deborah Radcliffe – whom she refers to as "Madam" – with no little air of frustration.
"The letter is from Radcliffe to her mother-in-law and while the tone is reasonable and measured there is an undercurrent of slight exasperation," said Buzwell. "It would appear Radcliffe and her husband, William, had sent some money up to Yorkshire, where Ann's mother-in-law, Deborah Radcliffe, lived, but the money obviously never arrived. One has the impression that Ann and her husband were sending money up north fairly regularly; so much so that Ann suggests in the letter that maybe life would be easier if her mother-in-law moved down south to live with them in London rather than remaining in Yorkshire."
"Dear Madam, We are concerned to hear such frequent complaints," writes Radcliffe. "The reasonableness of things in Yorkshire is well known; but without insisting upon that if you cannot be accommodated with the necessaries of life, and without being a burden to any body; – if the supplies which William [her husband] sends are not sufficient, we can only desire you to come and live with us, where you shall always find plenty, whatever you may do elsewhere."
Radcliffe goes on to address the issue of money. "You will recollect the unwillingness which William formerly expressed to send money to you at Broughton, and your positive desire and assurances upon the subject. In my last I assured you we did not for a moment suppose you had received a two pound note when you assured us to the contrary, and it was therefore unnecessary for you to vindicate yourself again. He joins me in love and good wishes to you, and I remain Dear Madam, Your affectionate, A Radcliffe."
The only date on the letter is "August 31st", but Buzwell suspects it was written soon after the publication of Radcliffe's gothic novel The Italian, in 1797. That book, he pointed out, "features a young woman, Ellena Rosalba, who has a distinctly frosty relationship with her mother-in-law the Marchesa di Vivaldi. Real life bleeding into art perhaps? Further, Ellena makes some money by sewing and sewing is often read in fiction of the time as code for 'writing' so, again, there may be a link there with real life."
Buzwell called the letter, part of which is missing, "a lovely insight into the 'real' Ann Radcliffe", who
he said "wrote some of the most elegant and beautiful novels to emerge from the 1780s–1820s, the golden age of gothic fiction."
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