Ada Reis

is Lady Caroline Lamb’s third and last novel. It was printed in 1823 by her friend, John Murray (also Lord Byron’s publisher through most of his life), and it is a curiously fantastic tale. The story is supposedly the partial translation of a text written in Arabic, Spanish, and Incan, found in the grave of Fiormonda, whose gravestone also bears the name of her father, Ada Reis.

Ada Reis is born in Georgia near the Black Sea and sold into bondage. Luckily, a kindly Genoese merchant purchases him and raises him as his son. The young man grows up impetuous, cunning, and an intemperate drinker. He boards a privateer, murders the captain (whose title is “Reis”), and declares himself a follower of Islam. Ada’s love-conquests include many women, and when he returns to Italy

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Citation: Douglass, Malcolm Paul. "Ada Reis". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 October 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16598, accessed 19 March 2024.]

16598 Ada Reis 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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