Ray, Jean
Malpertuis
- ISBN 13:
- 9781939663702
- author:
- Ray, Jean
- format:
- Paperback
- publisher:
- Wakefield Press
- language:
- English
- Publication Year:
- 2021
- Pages:
- 256
- Dimensions:
- 20.2 x 13.6 x 1.6 centimetres (0
- Genre:
- Fiction & Literature, Literary, Fiction & Literature,
- Condition:
- New
- Availability:
- Item usually sent within 10 working days
Description
Malpertuis is a masterful puzzle box of a novel that redefines the haunted-house tradition. Written by Jean Ray, this 1943 French original has stood the test of time, remaining as inventive and gripping today as when it first appeared.
A complex web of narratives is woven from a set of stolen manuscripts, which are then revealed through the story of a group of relatives who gather at the ancient mansion of a sea-trading dynasty to settle the will of the late occult scientist, Uncle Cassave. As they are forced to live together within the stifling walls of Malpertuis, their mundane existence gives way to love affairs and secret plots, which ultimately lead to a series of ghastly deaths.
With its eccentric cast of characters, including a taxidermist, a hypochondriac, and a trio of vengeful sisters, Malpertuis is a novel that slowly reveals its secrets, culminating in an apocalyptic denouement that turns the haunted-house tradition on its head.