After being abandoned by the man she believes to be her father, Adeline St. Pierre finds precarious refuge with Pierre de la Motte and his family. Although La Motte is himself fleeing Paris to escape imprisonment, he agrees to take Adeline with them. Circumstances force them to settle in a remote, desolate abbey within the depths of the forest of Fontanville. Their initial relief is disturbed by the arrival of the Marquis de Montalt. While Adeline is haunted by terrifying dreams, La Motte becomes entangled in the corrupt schemes of his new-found benefactor. First published in 1791, "The Romance of the Forest" was Ann Radcliffe's breakout book. This edition has been copyedited to current American practice in respect to punctuation. In some places words and phrases have been reordered - and in a very few cases altered or removed - to improve ease of comprehension. The interspersed poems have been eliminated. Includes map.