Paul Ardenheim, the Monk of Wissahikon by George Lippard

                       


Paul Ardenheim, the Monk of Wissahikon by George Lippard, first published in 1848 by T B Peterson, Philadelphia.

This is a lengthy and ambitious work, set in the backwoods of Philadelphia around the Wissahikon river between the years 1774-1777, although there are flashbacks to previous centuries and different countries. The main plot of the book surrounds an ancient family cursed by patricide, with the spirit of an ancestor haunting the pages in various guises. The underlying themes are universal brotherhood and justice for the poor.
Nothing and no-one in the book are as they seem. Every house has at least one secret chamber and the characters are not who they are made out to be. John, is actually Reginald, an English nobleman set on seducing a young orphan girl, until he discovers she is his long-lost sister, but then finds that she isn't. Isaac Van Behme is a wizard searching for the secret of eternal youth, who is helped by a demon and later returns as Sir Ralph Wyttonhurst. Jacob is a servant with a shady past who becomes a charlatan preacher. Gilbert is a huntsman, who joins a secret society, falls foul of the aforementioned demon, tries to murder his fiance then becomes a pirate. Paul Ardenheim himself is not a proper monk, but a recluse, whose father is a member of the Order of the Rosy Cross, a secret religious society. He later finds he is related to the cursed English family. 
The book does not stint on Gothic tropes. It has religion, a demon, a lead statue prophesised to turn to gold, alchemy, family secrets, freemasonry, a curse, a haunted mansion, murder, doomed love, and two revolutions, with George Washington and Maximilien Robespierre making appearances. The author uses  a footnote to explain supernatural activity by what he refers to as 'magnetism' or 'magnetic sleep' which is akin to hypnotism. Typical of the author, every young woman has a 'heaving bosom'.
The narrative is interrupted by overlong descriptive passages, the chapters jump between various interconnected story lines, which can get a little confusing and the ending is abrupt, with several threads - including the relationship between Reginald and his father, the situation with the Rosy Cross priests, what happens to Gilbert the huntsman, and the fate of Black David - left untied. It does, though, give a good feel for life in America at the time of the Revolution.

Gothic Rating:

isolated setting:                                         🕱

brooding atmosphere:                               🕱

mental illness:                                           🕱

religious reference:                                   🕱

supernatural elements:                              🕱

murder:                                                     🕱

family secret:                                            🕱

genius/madness:                                       🕱

doomed love:                                           🕱


Paul Ardenheim, the Monk of Wissahikon has a Gothic rating of    🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱






 

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