<em>Caroline of Lichtfield</em> by Isabelle de Montolieu

Kirkley, L

Caroline of Lichtfield by Isabelle de Montolieu

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Abstract

Caroline of Lichtfield (1786) is the site of a unique textual encounter between the Swiss author of the source text, Isabelle de Montolieu, and the English translator, Thomas Holcroft. It is a sentimental novel which tells the story of a young woman who comes to realize that the young and handsome man she has fallen for is less worthy of her affections than her older, less dashing husband. In its heyday, the novel was a hugely influential international bestseller and garnered high praise from writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Germaine de Staël and Maria Edgeworth. This edition brings Holcroft's translation to modern readers. It includes an introduction that puts Montolieu's novel in its historical, cultural and literary context and compares it with Holcroft's translation. There are comprehensive footnotes, many of which discuss disparities between the source text and the translation, and an appendix which translates an important section of the text that Holcroft chose to cut.