Lorna Doone

An Exmoor farmer tells of his attachment to Lorna and the dangers surrounding the outlaw household to which she belongs.

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Listen free: the LibriVox audiobook, read by volunteers.

Length: 75 chapters
Reading time: About 18 hr 57 min
Words: 270,701

About the book

John Ridd introduces himself as a plain man setting down events he remembers from his own neighbourhood. His account begins with education and family life, establishing the practical and local interests through which he will describe a much larger adventure.

Blackmore lets the narrator's digressions shape a romance rooted in farms, schools and the landscape of Exmoor. The contrast between John's ordinary responsibilities and the threat associated with the Doones gives the story a movement between domestic detail, personal attachment and physical danger.

On these lists

Adventure Courtship and marriage

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. R. D. Blackmore died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK.