Paul Clifford — Volume 07
1830
It was a dark and stormy night , the most famous opening line in English literature, and the gateway to one of the Victorian era's most audacious novels. Paul Clifford lives a dangerous double life: by day, a charismatic gentleman moving through polite society; by night, a highwayman and thief navigating 1830s England with wit, charm, and a loaded pistol. When his criminal past catches up with him, Paul faces the gallows , but the novel asks whether society's laws and a man's conscience are ever truly in harmony. Bulwer-Lytton's Gothic tale crackles with courtroom drama, forbidden romance, and sharp commentary on class and justice. It invented the melodramatic novel, coined phrases we still use today, and proved that popular fiction could be gleefully, unapologetically sensational. For readers who want Victorian excess with a wink, a heroine trapped in a tower, and a hero who's either a romantic outlaw or a cold-blooded criminal , depending on who tells the story.
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“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.””
— Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton
“It was a dark and stormy night...””
— Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton
“Can any man doubt whether it is better to be a great statesman or a common thief?””
— Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton
“The ancients," quoth Paul, "were very great men, Mr MacGrawler.""They were so, sir," returned the critic; "we make it a rule of our profession to assert the fact.""But, sir," said Paul, "they were wrong now and then.""Never, Ignoramus; never!""They praised poverty, Mr MacGrawler!" said Paul, with a sigh."Hem!" quoth the critic, a little staggered; but presently recovering his characteristic acumen, he observed, "It is true, Paul; but that was of the poverty of other people.””
— Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton
