Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady

One of the first great British novels, Samuel Richardsons classic tale became a legend to his own age and remains so today.Defying her parents desire for her to marry a loathsome man for his wealth, the virtuous Clarissa escapes into the dangerous arms of the charming rogue Lovelace, whose intentions are much less than honorable.

This thought-provoking work, written entirely in intimate letters, exposes the delicacy and complexity of affairs of the human heart.

The fatal attraction between villain and victim builds and unfolds into a relationship that haunts the imagination as fully as that of Romeo and Juliet or Tristan and Isolde.Abridged and with an Introduction by Sheila Ortiz-Taylorand a New Afterword by Lynn Shepherd