Description

THE NEW SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ESSEX SERPENT

OBSERVER BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE

‘A beautiful, devastating, brilliant book’ Marian Keyes

‘Astonishingly dark, rich storytelling, exquisitely balanced between gothic shocks and emotional truth’ Francis Spufford

‘Mythic, ominous and sensitively human, Melmoth is haunting in all the best ways’ Frances Hardinge

****

Twenty years ago Helen Franklin did something she cannot forgive herself for, and she has spent every day since barricading herself against its memory. But her sheltered life is about to change.

A strange manuscript has come into her possession. It is filled with testimonies from the darkest chapters of human history, which all record sightings of a tall, silent woman in black, with unblinking eyes and bleeding feet: Melmoth, the loneliest being in the world. Condemned to walk the Earth forever, she tries to beguile the guilty and lure them away for a lifetime wandering alongside her.

Everyone that Melmoth seeks out must make a choice: to live with what they’ve done, or be led into the darkness. Helen can’t stop reading, or shake the feeling that someone is watching her. As her past finally catches up with her, she too must choose which path to take.

Exquisitely written, and gripping until the very last page, this is a masterpiece of moral complexity, asking us profound questions about mercy, redemption, and how to make the best of our conflicted world.

Publisher Review

This is a beautiful, devastating, brilliant book. It affected me so much I was shaking after I read it. The exquisite, immersive writing compelled me to keep reading even through the horrors described. -- Marian Keyes Astonishingly dark, rich storytelling, exquisitely balanced between gothic shocks and emotional truth. -- Francis Spufford Richly atmospheric, daring and surprising, Melmoth seals Sarah Perry's place as chief architect of literature's gothic revival. -- Melissa Harrison Striking in form and brave in the questions it asks of us all, moving and terribly beautiful, Melmoth left me troubled and haunted for weeks. -- Sam Guglani Sarah Perry is a wonderful writer, the real thing. Her new novel Melmoth packs a punch of atmosphere, creepiness, fear and melancholy. I am going to move it off my bedside table because it is haunting my sleep. -- Susan Hill Mythic, ominous and sensitively human, Melmoth is haunting in all the best ways... including the disquieting ones. -- Frances Hardinge In rich, lyrical prose, Perry weaves history and myth, human frailty and compassion, into an affecting gothic morality tale for 2018. Like David Mitchell and Sarah Waters, Perry is changing what a modern-day ghost story can look like, challenging her readers to confront the realities of worldwide suffering from which fiction is so often an escape. A chilling novel about confronting our complicity in past atrocities-and retaining the strength and moral courage to strive for the future. * starred Kirkus review * This is a sobering, disturbing, yet powerful and moving book that cannot fail to impress. * starred Booklist review * Helen Franklin, a translator living in Prague, finds herself searching for the truth behind the dark, legendary figure Melmoth-while also being pursued by her. This gothic mystery novel from the author of The Essex Serpent is a treat. * Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2018 * Praise for The Essex Serpent: 'One of the most memorable historical novels of the past decade' * Sunday Times * An irresistible novel that taps the vein of Victorian Gothic and British myth' * Daily Telegraph * An unforgettable achievement * starred Publishers Weekly review * Praise for After Me Comes the Flood: 'Remarkable... will haunt the reader long after the final page.' * Guardian * Praise for Sarah Perry: 'One of the finest fiction writers working in Britain today. -- John Burnside Sarah Perry has the rare gift of committing the uncommittable to prose - that is to say: here is a writer who understands life. -- Jessie Burton Perry is a wonderful descriptive writer with a remarkable talent for making the familiar strange ... She bleeds light into darkness and back again * The Times * Perry's language is exquisite, her characterisation finely tuned... it's clear that Perry is a gifted writer of immense ability. * Irish Times * A hugely talented author. -- Sarah Waters Genius. -- Lucy Mangan Perry writes fantastically * The Bookseller * Perry has crafted an atmospheric, gothic tale with the requisite bumps and shocks, but one that also asks profound and powerful questions about morality, mercy and redemption -- Alice O'Keeffe This fever dream of a novel will prove as compelling and all-consuming as The Essex Serpent * Starred Library Journal review * The very notion of Melmoth strikes such an innate chord it's easy to believe this folklore could be true. And isn't that all it takes to create real horror? Perry's beautiful writing ensnares you with the tale of Helen, a translator living in modern-day Prague who uncovers the myth of Melmoth via letters and diary extracts from across the centuries. Sleep well... * Emerald Street * A writer with a far-seeing, delicately-coloured focus in creating both settings and characters, and an eye for picking out the extraordinary factors in everyday life ... Melmoth certainly doesn't disappoint ... a gripping read ... extremely tense, satisfying, and hard to put down ... a delicious, melancholic and complex kind of darkness which pervades throughout ... Definitely one to read as the nights draw in. -- Clare Mulley * The Skinny * A singular creature ...utterly immersive ... It's quite a trick to have produced a playful, bona fide page-turner that also looks man's inhumanity to man in the face - yet it's one Perry has pulled off with aplomb. -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail * For a spooky read on a darkening afternoon, Melmoth is great. The Gothic is turned up to 11 ... [and] it is richly drawn. Melmoth is coming: look busy. -- Rebecca Armstrong * The i Paper * Sublimely written, deliciously gothic and consistently intriguing throughout. -- Fanny Blake * Woman & Home * Hoffman's account of his treachery during the Second World War is a gripping piece of testimony. The scenes in a Manila hospital ... have a feverish, hallucinatory power -- Claire Allfree * Daily Telegraph * Stylish gothic thrills in this atmosphic novel ... in an often drab literary landscape, Sarah Perry stands out as an exhilaratingly bold storyteller. -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday * I loved Melmoth ... Sarah Perry gets better and better, she's like MR James ... and writes like a dream -- Tom Dyckoff * BBC Saturday Review * I can't remember a book that has managed to condense so much into so few pages, that has summoned such atmosphere, so many vistas and voices. The reader is left with the feeling that, more than anything, Melmoth is a good book, one that, for all its uncanny shudders, comes from a place of decency and good faith, a beacon against the darkest times. Perry's masterly piece of postmodern gothic is one of the great achievements of our century and deserves all the prizes and praise that will be heaped upon it. -- Alex Preston * Observer *