I also found on YouTube this extract from a 1990 version of Lorna Doone starring Clive Owen and Sean Bean, both looking very young! Do watch if you want to get a feeling for the novel. With thanks to Wikipedia as the source of the biographical information and author photograph. It has never been out of print since it’s original publication date. Ironic in fact as this particular novel was not even a favourite of his. How sad then that the only surviving published work of a man so popular in his lifetime is Lorna Doone. He was also a horticulturist which is probably one of the reasons his novels were widely acclaimed for there descriptions of the countryside.

Most people do not realise that he was actually one of the more famous English novelists of the second half of the nineteenth century with at least twenty published works. Blackmore as he was more often known was born in Longworth, Berkshire now Oxfordshire, on the 7th of June 1825 and died in Teddington, Middlesex on the 20th January 1900. Personally I found this edition to be an excellent abridgment of what is to this day a tale worth reading. If you want to read the full plot summary with spoilers it can be found here Lorna Doone - Plot Summary John Ridd's rescue of Lorna and the terrible revenge of Carver Doone makes for a thrilling adventure story. Lorna has been part of the outlaw band since childhood although it is not really where she belongs. His obsession leads him to meet and fall in love with the beautiful Lorna Doone.

The notorious Doones of Bagworthy who because of this evil deed John is obsessed with. The hero of the tale is John Ridd a young man whose father was murdered by a band of outlaws.

This historical romance and adventure story is set in the late 17th century on the wild moors of Exmoor in Devon.

I have read this novel before but as I found this abridged version sitting on our bookshelves decided that it would make a suitable read for The Victorian Literature Challenge This is not Lorna Doone retold but “a simple tale told simply” as R.D. With this in mind this has been translated by Doris Dickens, great granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Introduction Quote : Having seen a performance of a classic work of literature on television, children are often disappointed and frustrated when they find they are unable to read and understand the original.Publisher: Original Edition 1869 – This edition published by Diamond Books 1993.

Doone book