Clara Reeve

The Old English Baron: a Gothic Story

"The Old English Baron: a Gothic Story" by Clara Reeve is a Gothic novel first published in 1778. When Sir Philip Harclay returns to medieval England, he discovers his dear friend Arthur Lord Lovel is dead and the family estate sold. Among the new baron's household, he meets Edmund, a peasant's son whose striking resemblance to the lost lord raises troubling questions. As Edmund faces the enmity of his benefactor's nephews while loving the baron's daughter, supernatural forces begin to reveal long-buried secrets about his true identity and a terrible crime.