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Lorna Doone

R.D. Blackmore

Start date: February 1, 2026

Finish date: March 31, 2026

Discussion: 2026 Romance

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2026 Romance

2026 Romance Classic Schedule
By Lesle , Appalachian Bibliophile · 8 posts · 41 views

last updated Nov 27, 2025 11:36AM

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Apr 27, 2023 Manybooks rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, book-reviews, romance, great-time-place, wonderful-descriptions, story-is-a-bit-boring, undeveloped-characters

With his 1869 historical fiction romance Lorna Doone (taking place mostly in 17th century Southwestern England, in Exmoor, and also with a short stint in London), R.D. Blackmore has us as readers textually be presented with an erstwhile noble (but now out of royal favour) clan of murderous robber baron like outlaws, with dashing highwaymen, stolen jewels, family feuds, political intrigue and also an obligatory love story, telling in first person narration the story of yeoman farmer John Ridd's l With his 1869 historical fiction romance Lorna Doone (taking place mostly in 17th century Southwestern England, in Exmoor, and also with a short stint in London), R.D. Blackmore has us as readers textually be presented with an erstwhile noble (but now out of royal favour) clan of murderous robber baron like outlaws, with dashing highwaymen, stolen jewels, family feuds, political intrigue and also an obligatory love story, telling in first person narration the story of yeoman farmer John Ridd's life and of his love for the beautiful Lorna Doone of the book title (whom John first encounters when he is twelve and Lorna but eight years of age).

But while both John and Lorna end up falling in love with each other (and in a very all encompassing, overly exaggerated and sappily passionate manner), there are many obstacles which must be overcome within the pages of Lorna Doone before Lorna and John (as the proverbial star crossed lovers) can have any chance of real and lasting happiness (and yes, I am definitely pleased that Lorna Doone does not end up having an ending like William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, although that said type of ending might be considered as being a bit more realistic). For John Ridd must deal with own negative and majorly ambivalent feelings towards the Doones (and that his own father was in fact murdered by the Doones) and also that as the granddaughter of Sir Ensor Doone, Lorna’s own social status is and always will be much higher than that of a humble farmer like John (and his family) and not to mention that the brutal, and violent Carver Doone intends to marry Lorna himself and will let nothing stand in his way, and certainly not some farmer (and that Lorna's family will likely always consider Carver Doone a better and more appropriate "match" no matter what Lorna's own feelings regarding this are).

Now I do have to admit (and I think I have already briefly alluded to this above) that John and Lorna's romance as it is shown and as it progresses in Lorna Doone has not really been all that much of a reading pleasure. For yes and indeed, I am simply not and never have been all that much a fan of Romance as a literary genre and have therefore found John and Lorna's story rather overly saccharine and not all that interesting for and to me personally, and not to mention that both John Ridd and Lorna Doone also and more often than not seem to come across as too one-sidedly good and noble and furthermore that many of the negative characters shown and depicted by R.D. Blackmore in Lorna Doone are basically quite as ridiculously stereotypical negative (and this is especially true regarding Carver Doone) as John Ridd and Lorna Doone are often without major faults and rather paragons of virtue, not horrible and terrible of course, but it sure makes for a plot, a main storyline in Lorna Doone that is rather on the surface, not all that nuanced and can get more than a bit tedious and annoying (and in particular for and in a novel with a page count as high as Lorna Doone).

And to be perfectly and totally honest here, if I were just to rate Lorna Doone with regard to how R.D. Blackmore presents his contents, themes and his characters, I would certainly only be willing to consider a two star rating (as the plot is rather undeveloped, Blackmore's characters are pretty wooden, one actually often only hears about how dastardly the Doones are second hand and that John Ridd and Lorna Doone's romance is just not really my thing and kind of annoying and frustrating to have to read about for hundreds of pages, and that yes, I also am a bit frustrated by the dated gender roles in Lorna Doone, but considering that the story takes place in the 17th century and was written in the 19th century, I guess I can mostly ignore this and to at least consider this as being mostly a sign of the times, but indeed, it still makes for a bit of textual annoyance and frustration regarding Lorna Doone).

However and even though R.D. Blackmore's plot, characterisation etc. for Lorna Doone are not all that much to my personal reading tastes, I absolutely do adore how Blackmore sets his scenes, his wonderful sense of time and place, his meticulous and delightful descriptions of landscape, of farming, of 17th century life in Sussex, in the Exmoor area of England (and if I ignore how tedious the part of Lorna Doone that takes place in London is), yes, I can and will consider a three star rating for Lorna Doone (but to definitely point out that it is basically ONLY Blackmore's descriptive writing, his flowing language and his knack for providing detailed depictions of farming life etc. so wonderfully and engagingly that have made me consider said three stars, as the story itself, as John and Lorna's love story in Lorna Doone just does not textually enchant and delight me all that much and all that lastingly). ...more

31 likes · Like · see review

Feb 12, 2023 Chrissie rated it did not like it

Shelves: england, fauna, hf, classics, 2023-read, returned, mystery, scotland, adventure, audible-uk

Read and discussed with Manybooks/Gundula here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you’re curious, please see our comments below Gundula's review. You will observe how our views altered as we read.

A classic of both swashbuckling adventure and love. The prose is said to excel in its depiction of the English countryside. It is this that drew me to the book, but it proved to be the only thing about the book I liked. Unfortunately, having completed the book, I cannot recommend it. I will exp ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2009 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: roman-historique, e-books, read-2011, hf-19th-century-europe

Available at Gutenberg Project:

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/worl...

Not so good as expected. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2020 Candace rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, classics, look-for-movie-series, romances-that-transcend-time-and-sp, starcrossed

I would have rated this a 5 if some more of it had been edited out. However, Blackmore wrote a very engaging, very witty coming of age story about a farmer John Ridd. It is set during the time of the Monmouth Rebellion and there are issues on government, Court and Kings, as well as hilarious ones on class, women, and love. There are two major things that John struggles with: 1. One of the roguish Doones has killed his father. When he comes of age, everyone in his village expects John to kill the ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 31, 2017 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, vic-lit

Read for Victober 2017.

I enjoy historical fiction. One of my favorite books is The Pillars of the Earth, which started my travels through England and Europe of the Middle Ages. But, until now I have never read a historical classic book which was historical fiction at the time written.

What a treat this book was to read. R.D. Blackmore created many, many characters and each was unique. They also all had their roles int he story. The small moments and small characters were each pivotal to the overa ...more

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