Clermont (novel) "Midnight Bell", "Orphan of the Rhine", and "Horrid Mysteries". Those will last us some time. Yes, pretty well; but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid? —"Northanger Abbey", ch. 6 "Clermont", as well as the other "horrid novels", were once thought to be the creations of Jane Austen's imagination, however research in the first half of the 20th century by Michael Sadleir and Montague Summers confirmed that they did actually exist and stimulated renewed interest in the Gothic. Clermont (novel) Clermont is a Gothic novel by Regina Maria Roche. It was first published in 1798 by
Northanger Abbey Austen's discussion of "Udolpho" is also used to clearly separate Catherine from John Thorpe, as when Catherine talks about the novel with him, he crudely responds that he "never reads novels," but qualifies his statement by arguing he would only read a novel by Anne Radcliffe, who, as Catherine then points out, is the author of "Udolpho". Here, Austen humorously categorizes "Northanger Abbey's" characters into two spheres: those who read novels, and those who do not. When Catherine and Henry Tilney later discuss reading novels, and Henry earnestly responds that he enjoys reading novels, and was especially titillated by "Udolpho,"