Lorna Doone (Annotated‪)‬

This annotated edition of *Lorna Doone* includes:

• A detailed biography of R. D. Blackmore
• Historical, literary, and cultural context
• Chapter-by-chapter reading notes
• Explanations of period language, customs, places, and institutions
• Critical commentary, themes, reading pathways, and a glossary

Set amid the wild moorland of seventeenth-century Exmoor, *Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor* follows John Ridd, a prosperous yeoman farmer whose life is marked from childhood by the violence of the notorious Doone clan.

Years after his father is killed, John discovers the hidden valley where the Doones have made their stronghold—and there he meets Lorna. Their attachment draws him into a world of family secrets, disputed identity, social rank, outlaw power, and political upheaval. As private loyalties collide with the Monmouth Rebellion and the troubled reign of James II, Blackmore moves effortlessly between adventure, romance, rural comedy, domestic life, and historical drama.

John Ridd’s memorable first-person voice gives the novel much of its character. Practical, humorous, stubborn, and sometimes slower to understand his own feelings than the reader, John tells an extraordinary story while insisting that he is only a plain countryman. Around him, Exmoor is never merely scenery: roads, rivers, snow, horses, farms, hidden valleys, and difficult journeys continually shape what the characters can do.

This edition is designed for readers who want to enjoy the complete novel while understanding more of the world behind it. The added material explains unfamiliar language and customs without modernising Blackmore’s original prose, provides useful historical and cultural background, and offers several ways to return to the novel after reading.

A richly detailed English classic combining forbidden love, adventure, family loyalty, humour, landscape, and the upheavals of seventeenth-century England.