The Monk: A Romance

Ambrosio is the most celebrated monk in Madrid, a preacher so revered that crowds fight for seats at his sermons, and pride is only the first of his sins. Lewis charts the abbot's temptation and spectacular fall with a relish that scandalized 1796: forbidden desire, sorcery, poison, the dungeons of the Inquisition, and a legendary spectre called the Bleeding Nun haunting a parallel tale of two young lovers trying to escape a convent's grip.

Written when its author was just nineteen, The Monk is the Gothic novel with the brakes cut, lurid, headlong, and still genuinely shocking where its politer rivals merely shiver. If you want to understand where horror fiction's appetite for transgression began, it begins here.

At roughly 138,100 words, The Monk: A Romance runs about 15½ hours at 1x narration speed. That figure is an estimate based on a typical narration pace. The exact length depends on the voice and the playback speed you choose.

The Monk: A Romance is in the public domain, so the complete text is free on Project Gutenberg and LoudReader has the entire Project Gutenberg catalog built in. To listen:

1. Download LoudReader for Mac or iPhone (free, no account).
2. Search for “The Monk: A Romance” in the built-in catalog and add it to your library.
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