Paul Clifford

Paul Clifford is a novel published in 1830 by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It tells the life of Paul Clifford, a man who leads a dual life as both a criminal and an upscale gentleman. The book was successful upon its release. It is best known for its opening phrase "It was a dark and stormy night...", which helped inspire the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Plot Paul Clifford tells the story of a chivalrous highwayman in the time of the French Revolution. Brought up not knowing his origins, he falls in with a gang of highwaymen. While disguised as a gentleman for the purposes of a confidence trick, he meets and falls in love with Lucy Brandon. Clifford is arrested for a highway robbery and brought before her uncle, Judge Brandon, for trial, where it is unexpectedly revealed that Clifford is Brandon's son. That revelation complicates the trial, but Clifford is convicted and Judge Brandon condemns him to death. The sentence is commuted to transportation. Clifford escapes from the penal colony, and he and Lucy make their way to America together. Famous first words Although Paul Clifford is rarely read today, it contains one of the most widely known incipits in English literary history: "It was a dark and stormy night…". It is frequently invoked for its atmospheric and neo-Gothic description, often in the mystery, detective, horror and thriller genres. Because of its Romantic qualities, it has likewise become a textbook example of purple prose.