Go-to Gothic writers
Kate Mosse has harboured a love of Gothic thrillers from a young age and explored the genre in her best-selling Gothic fiction, The Winter Ghosts (2009) and The Taxidermist’s Daughter (2014).
Mosse said: “For me, writing Gothic fiction is a treat. Whereas my historical fiction is very much putting women’s history back on the page. The Gothic fiction is having a bit of fun.”
In Warrior Queens And Quiet Revolutionaries, Mosse highlights the work of female writers who were pioneers of Gothic fiction, like Ann Radcliffe (The Mysteries Of Udolpho published in 1794).
“Ann Radcliffe was a superstar in her day and is seen in a way as creating that genre.
“I also included Mary Shelley because, while everyone knows Frankenstein (1818), not everyone appreciates how much influence the novel had on all of writing.
“And there’s Margaret Cavendish, who you could say invented the genre of science fiction as her books (notably The Blazing World, 1666) blended science fiction and Gothic fiction.
“These writers all had a profound influence on English literature but are not seen as important as male writers of that period like Charles Dickens and William Thackery.”