Nightmare Abbey

Despite its ominously sounding title, Nightmare Abbey is a Gothic satire in which the author pokes light-hearted fun at the romantic movement in contemporary English literature. Scythrop is recovering from an unfortunate love affair. He throws himself into a quixotic mission of reforming the world, but he is constantly distracted from his project by two women, the flirtatious Marionetta and the mysterious Stella. Widely considered to be the best of Peacock's novels.