The Monk: A Romance by Matthew Gregory Lewis Goodreads The Monk Matthew Gregory Lewis The Monk, a romance 1832 auction online The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis The Monk by Lewis, Matthew Gregory (M.G.): Very Good Hardcover (1840 The Monk Kindle edition by Lewis, Matthew Gregory. Literature. Set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid, The Monk is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest. The great struggle between maintaining monastic vows and fulfilling personal ambitions leads its main character, the monk Ambrosio, to temptation and the breaking of his vows, then to sexual obsession and rape, and finally to murder in order to conceal his guilt. The only edition of this key gothic novel available, The Monk now offers a new introduction and notes that make it especially accessible to the modern reader.