Clarissa

Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady

Author	Samuel Richardson
Country	Britain
Language	English
Genre	Epistolary novel
Publication date	1748
Media type	Print

Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady: Comprehending the Most Important Concerns of Private Life. And Particularly Shewing, the Distresses that May Attend the Misconduct Both of Parents and Children, In Relation to Marriage is an epistolary novel by English writer Samuel Richardson, published in 1748. It tells the tragic story of a young woman, Clarissa Harlowe, whose quest for virtue is continually thwarted by her family. The Harlowes are a recently wealthy family whose preoccupation with increasing their standing in society leads to obsessive control of their daughter, Clarissa. It is considered one of the longest novels in the English language (based on estimated word count). It is generally regarded as Richardson's masterpiece.

In 2015, the BBC ranked Clarissa 14th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.^[1] In 2013 The Guardian included Clarissa among the 100 best novels written in English.^[2]