Rookwood is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth published in 1834. It is a historical and gothic romance that describes a dispute over the legitimate claim for the inheritance of Rookwood Place and the Rookwood family name.
The initial response from the literary public was positive, and Ainsworth immediately became famous with the novel's publication. In a letter to Crossley dated 6 May 1834, Ainsworth claimed, "The book is doing famously well here - making, in fact, quite a sensation. It has been praised in quarters of which you can have no idea - for instance, by Sir James Scarlett and Lord Durham. I have also received a most flattering letter from Bulwer-Lytton, and it has been the means of introducing me to Lady Blessington and her soirees. In fact, as Byron says, I went to bed unknown, arose, and found myself famous. Bentley has already begun to speak of a second edition - he wants to advertise in all the papers"."
An immediate review in The Quarterly Review said, "His story is one that never flags" and "we expect much from this writer". A review in The Spectator claimed that the work was "Written with great vigour and wonderful variety". The Atlas ran a review which stated, "It is long since such a work as this has been produced - the author exhibits ability of no ordinary kind."
In terms of classification and judgment, Leo Mason, in 1939, claimed that "Rookwood, Jack Sheppard, and Crichton [...] are historical romances and must take their chances as such." Keith Hollingsworth, in his 1963 analysis of the Newgate novels, declared, "Rookwood is a story by Mrs. Radcliffe transplanted [...] ' Substituting' is the accurate word for Ainsworth's process. There is probably no single item of originality in all the profession of Gothic elements." In 1972, George Worth argued for the importance of the gothic elements in Rookwood: "There is no better representative of the Gothic strain in Ainsworth's work than Rookwood [...] which begins with shudders that do not often abate as the novel continues. David Punter, in 1996, as focused on the novel as part of the gothic genre when he argued that Rookwood and Jack Sheppard "are important only as another link in the uneven chain which leads from Godwin, via Lytton, onto Reynolds and Dickens, and which thus produces a form of Gothic connected with the proletarian and the contemporary."
In 2003, Stephen Carver argued, "Rookwood was one of the most successful novels of the nineteenth century. The fact that it has now been largely forgotten is in part an indication of the dynamic nature of literary production during this period, the star of 1834-5, Ainsworth, being rapidly eclipsed by Dickens in 1836." He continued by pointing out, "Stylistically, Rookwood is a wonderful enthusiastic amalgam: blending gothic with Newgate, historical romance with underworld anti-heroes, 'flash' dialogue and song, all luridly illustrated by George Cruikshank. This was what made Rookwood such a novelty in 1838 although, in many ways, the parts could be said to be greater than the whole." (wikipedia.org)
