Paul Clifford — Complete

Edward Bulwer-Lytton opens this once-hugely-popular novel with the line every parodist knows, “It was a dark and stormy night,” and follows it with the story of Paul Clifford, a young man of obscure birth who drifts from an unjust imprisonment into a career as a gallant highwayman. Leading a double life as both robber and gentleman, he loses his heart to Lucy Brandon while hiding who he really is. Beneath the adventure runs a pointed argument: Bulwer-Lytton uses his charming outlaw to attack the harshness of the criminal law and to suggest that the line between a thief and a respectable man is often only luck and circumstance. First published in 1830, it ranks among the notable Newgate novels. Free to read here in PDF and EPUB.