Wieland and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist

Jay Fliegelman (Introduction)

Set in rural Pennyslvania in the 1760s, this tale of horror and mystery is based on an actual case of a New York farmer who murdered his family. The author employs Gothic devices and sensational features such as spontaneous combustion, ventriloquism, and religious fanaticism. Fiendish Carwin uses his influence over Clara Wieland and her family, destroying the order and authority of the small community in which they live. The novel examines some fundamental issues crucial to the survival of democracy in the new American republic. The unfinished sequel, Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, traces Carwin's career as a follower of the utopist Ludloe.

• ISBN10: 0140390790
• ISBN13: 9780140390797
• Publish Date: 1 February 1991
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 3 December 2007
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Penguin Classics
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780140390797

Reviews

[celinenyx]

All the Gothicists are gonna come after me, but I enjoyed Wieland better than anything by Radcliffe. Despite overwrought prose, the pace is decent, and actual interesting things happen to a brave, likeable heroine. This book is best enjoyed knowing little of the plot - many blurbs actually spoil several imporant plot points.

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Trigger warnings: religious fanatism, death in family, murder, threat of rape, gruesome death, suicide on-page & suicidal rationalizations.