Pamela by Samuel Richardson, one of the first (and one of the longest) novels in English, is an epistolary novel, which means that the narrative is contained in a series of (fictional) letters. Epistolary novels have the advantage of giving the reader little clue about the ending (traditional narratives written in the past tense presuppose that the narrator has survived the adventure thus removing one source of dramatic tension).
Pamela is of the genre that we would probably today call romantic fiction (though it is a little ruder than Jane Austen). But not all epistolary novels need to be in this genre. Dracula (which I read when I was eleven and is so brilliantly scary that I dared read it only in broad daylight and while surrounded by other people), another epistolary novel, is clearly in the Gothic / horror genre.
Other epistolary novels?
Pamela is of the genre that we would probably today call romantic fiction (though it is a little ruder than Jane Austen). But not all epistolary novels need to be in this genre. Dracula (which I read when I was eleven and is so brilliantly scary that I dared read it only in broad daylight and while surrounded by other people), another epistolary novel, is clearly in the Gothic / horror genre.
Other epistolary novels?
- Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, at least in the early stages, is made from emails.
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