Ruined castles, secret passages, perpetually fainting heroines, the vile conniving schemes of the local gentry -- and, of course, things that go bump in the night: Radcliffe's A Sicilian Romance has all of that, and if Radcliffe didn't invent the form, certainly she brought it into full flower. If you haven't read Radcliffe, this first novel is a fine place to start . . .