Which British author wrote the longest English novel, 'Clarissa'?

Samuel Richardson wrote Clarissa, commonly described as the longest novel in the English canon. Published in 1747–1748, the novel contains approximately 970,000 words in some editions, although claims about the longest English novel can vary with definitions, editions, and counting methods.

Its full title is Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady. Richardson tells the story through letters, making it a major example of the epistolary novel. Clarissa Harlowe struggles against her family's attempt to control her marriage, while the manipulative rake Robert Lovelace pursues and confines her. The novel's enormous length allows Richardson to present changing viewpoints, private motives, moral arguments, and psychological detail.

The first publication appeared in installments and eventually comprised seven volumes. Richardson revised later editions, restoring or altering passages, which is one reason word counts are not perfectly uniform. The novel's scale was also part of its contemporary reputation: readers followed the unfolding story over time and debated whether Richardson should give Clarissa a happier ending.

Clarissa is often confused with Richardson's shorter novel Pamela, published in 1740. Both use letters, but Clarissa is darker, more tragic, and substantially longer. Samuel Richardson was also a printer, a background that helped shape his detailed approach to written correspondence.