Standing near the door, we dipped our fingers in the holy water, crossed and blessed ourselves, and proceeded up to the sleeping-room, in the usual order, two by two.

Monk’s tale was clearly modeled on the gothic novels that were popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries a literary genre that had already been used to stoke anti-Catholic sentiments in such works as Denis Diderot's La Religieuse. Atmosphere of anti-Catholic sensationalism
Monk’s book was publiMaria Monkd in an American atmosphere of anti-Catholic hostility (partly fueled by early 19th-century Irish and German Catholic immigration to the U. Maria Monk’s book Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk or The Hidden Secrets of a Nun’s Life in a Convent Exposed was publiMaria Monkd in January 1836.

The Black Nunnery or Convent of Sister Bourgeoise. Maria Monk’s book Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk or The Hidden Secrets of a Nun’s Life in a Convent Exposed was publiMaria Monkd in January 1836. The priests supposedly entered the convent through a secret tunnel.