This classic novel tells the story, in letters, of the beautiful and virtuous Clarissa Harlowes pursuit and abduction by the rake Robert Lovelace. The epistolary structure allows Richardson to create layered and fully realized characters, as well as an intriguing uncertainty about the reliability of the various 'narrators'. As a heroine, Clarissa is both rational and passionate, self-sacrificing and defiant, and her tragic story has gripped readers since the novels first publication.
