The Adventures of Caleb Williams, or Things As They Are - William Godwin

If you had a time machine, where would you most like to go? It’s an ageless pub debate and I swing between London circa 1603 (to catch the first performance of Hamlet) and the same place in the 1790s. This is a work from the latter period, a time when Europe was reeling in the wake of the French Revolution, the New World was fully opening up, Gothic literature was all the rage and Blake was producing his best stuff. How good would that be?

Caleb Williams was written in 1794 and is a fascinating document of its time. Essentially it is a radical political tract dressed up as a ripping adventure yarn. The narrator is an innocent servant imperilled by the machinations of his social superiors, who use society’s tools to torment him. The implication is that society needs to be changed, and the novel was denounced by establishment commentators at the time.

In literary terms, there are shortcomings (especially in terms of sensible plotting) but I love the typical 1790s overstatement. Every setback is a horrifying calamity, every kindly character a faultless saint and a full stop is never used where an exclamation mark will do. The young Jane Austen would have lapped this exciting stuff up before calming down somewhat and inventing the modern novel.

(Cheers to Bunjo for the recommendation.)