Castle Rackrent

Castle Rackrent is a short novel by Maria Edgeworth published in 1800.

Shortly before it was published, an introduction, glossary and notes were added because the family thought people might think it was against the Act of Union 1800. It is partly based on her own family history, The Black Book of Edgeworthstown. The novel is set in Ireland before the Constitution of 1782. It tells the story of four generations of Rackrents and how badly they managed the estate. They were Anglo-Irish landlords.

It has been called the first historical novel, the first regional novel in English, the first Anglo-Irish novel, the first Big House novel, and the first saga novel. Sir Walter Scott, who met and wrote to Edgeworth said it inspired him to write his Waverley series of novels.