“Comyns’ novel is deranged in ways that shouldn’t be disclosed.” —Ben Marcus
This is the story of the Willoweed family and the English village in which they live. It begins mid-flood, ducks swimming in the drawing-room windows, “quacking their approval” as they sail around the room. “What about my rose beds?” demands Grandmother Willoweed. Her son shouts down her ear-trumpet that the garden is submerged, dead animals everywhere, she will be lucky to get a bunch. Then the miller drowns himself . . . then the butcher slits his throat . . . and a series of gruesome deaths plagues the villagers. The newspaper asks, “Who will be smitten by this fatal madness next?” Through it all, Comyns' unique voice weaves a text as wonderful as it is horrible, as beautiful as it is cruel. Originally published in England in 1954, this “overlooked small masterpiece” is a twisted, tragicomic gem.
- ISBN10 0984469311
- ISBN13 9780984469314
- Publish Date 1 November 2010 (first published 15 January 1987)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Dorothy a Publishing Project
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 216
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780984469314