First published in 1827, The Betrothed introduced a new genre—the historical novel. This was noted by Edgar Allan Poe who, reviewing the classic Italian novel in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1835, hailed Manzoni's epic as "a work which promises to be the commencement of a new style in novel-writing." Though the novel's centripetal force is the simple story of a betrothed couple whose forthcoming wedding is halted by a lustful noble's dubious designs, Manzoni takes the reader through war, famine, plague, and riot, corrupt prelates and humble priests, as the betrothed thirst for reunification. A panoramic meditation on politics, power, and pain, this novel is above all dramatic proof of love's power—a power that cannot exist without pain.
Renzo determined in an instant that it was better to fly than to stop to justify himself. Rapidly casting his eyes around to see on which side there were the fewest people, and fighting his way through those that opposed him, he soon freed himself from their clutches. The street was deserted before him; but behind him the terrible cry still resounded, “Seize him! stop him! a poisoner!"
-from the novel
Buy the Wiseblood Classics edition of this hefty 513-page novel for only $9.98 here.
Renzo determined in an instant that it was better to fly than to stop to justify himself. Rapidly casting his eyes around to see on which side there were the fewest people, and fighting his way through those that opposed him, he soon freed himself from their clutches. The street was deserted before him; but behind him the terrible cry still resounded, “Seize him! stop him! a poisoner!"
-from the novel
Buy the Wiseblood Classics edition of this hefty 513-page novel for only $9.98 here.