By Kelly Bridgewater
Ever wonder when the first novel was
actually written? Have you even read the first novel? Most people think the
first full length novel was written in the Victorian Era, which occurred during
the early nineteenth century. Who could forget Charles Dickens and the Bronte
sisters?
But what if I told you that you guessed
wrong? The first full length novel was not even a narrative like we are used to
reading today. It was an epistolary novel, you know, like The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The novel is called Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel
Richardson written in 1740 totaling an astounding 1,000 pages. It is one of the
longest novels written during its time. It is a story about a servant named
Pamela Andrews who lived with her master, Mr. B, who makes unwanted advances
toward her. He went so far as to keep her locked up where he can seduce her and
eventually almost rape her. Running away, she finally seeks solitude at another
estate, but when Mr. B returns, for some odd reason, Pamela starts to fall in
love with him. Odd. Wouldn’t work in a modern novel. Readers would be up in
arms as to why she fell in love with her attacker.
There were a couple of raunchy books
also during this time, such as The Life
and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Lawrence Stern, 1759. Ever
read that one? How about Tom Jones by
Henry Fielding, 1749. Not that one either. Samuel Richardson penned another
book in 1748 called Clarissa, or the
History of a Young Lady, which is 1,500 pages long.
These books were the precursor for the
Gothic novels. A Gothic novel is where modern writers can find inspiration come
up with the horror lore with ghosts, castles, spooky nights, and vampires. The
first Gothic novel was The Castle of Otranto
by Horace Warpole, 1764. Another Gothic novel was titled The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve, written in 1777.
Yes, I have read all of these books
because in graduate school I took a course on the British novel, and the
professor assigned book that, as English majors, we didn’t come across in our
many years of studying classic literature.
As much as I did not enjoy reading most
of the books assigned in that class (there were 19 novels all 500 pages or more
in a sixteen week course plus two 15 page papers assigned), I did become
introduced to writers I would not have been introduced to in any other format.
As a writer of suspense, I actually
enjoyed reading the beginning of the Gothic novels. It gave me some good ideas
to include in my novels. Plus, it showed me how the imagination of the suspense
novel has affected and changed the writer in the past two hundred fifty years.
Have you read any classic books in your
genre that has changed your perspective on writing? If so, could you share some
books. Please, if it is Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte, don’t mention her. She
seems to inspire every female romance writer today. Not that I like her, but
there are more classic writers out there to enjoy. Who is the classical writer
who you return to for inspiration?
