This is a long and compelling book, but picking it was totally worth it even if it took me a month to read it. Ann Radliffe is the pioneer of the gothic novel and inspired authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Jane Austen. Radcliffe described her novel as terror, not horror. Terror gives the reader material for imagination and to create a detailed reality with her guide as a writer, so this is a gothic terror novel divided in four volumes. The plot is really slow, with a very long setting, which I think necessary for the "action" part, in this first volume is were I found landscape descriptions very rich. The book is mainly prose, but each chapter starts with a verse related to the theme and in the middle we can find Emily's verses written by Radcliffe alluding to her thoughts and emotions. The heroine Emily is very sensible and emotional but also very strong, which was a trait of Radcliffe main characters and also satirized by Jane Austen in Northanger Abbey. Landscape descriptions follow the emotional state of the characters, castles in ruins perfectly a beautifully described are also an important part of the readers immersion so as it is art. Characters are very deeply described. During the whole plot, the author leaves many eastern eggs to be discovered hundreds of pages ahead. It's important to take into account that this novel was written during the French Revolution (1794) and in the eighteenth century, when moral, manners and religion were seen as protective factors against war and death, so even Emily is a very revolutionary character for that time, also people hadn't cellphones, social media or immediate entertainment and this long novels were deeply enjoyed by the readers. I was really glad I had the opportunity to read this jewel in a physical version.