This summaryof the novel is from Ernest Baker and James Packman,
romance of Exmoor in Stuart times (c. 1673-88). John Ridd, one of Blackmore's stalwart yeomen, rescues Lorna from the robber Doones. This is their history from childhood to marriage, with episodes and pictures of life in the world outside as well as in the quiet homesteads of Exmoor. Humorous Tom Faggus, the terrible brigand Carver Doone, and Judge Jeffreys are among the characters — all drawn with a peculiar kindliness and gusto. The scenic descriptions of the lovely region about Lynmouth and the Badgworthy Water are invested with a poetic glamour that befits the tale. Though Lorna Doone made little stir at the time of its appearance, it has had innumerable imitations since, and it signalized a return to the romanticism in historical fiction that Thackeray excluded in Esmond, The Virginians, Barry Lyndon, and Denis Duval. The Doones were a myth, if founded on certain insignificant facts.
Related Material
- Review in The Athenaeum (1869)
- Review in Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine (1871)
- Review in The Saturday Review (1871)
Last updated 25 April 2006