It is the Christmas of 1863. Richard, seventeen, has returned from Cambridge under a cloud to find his mother and elder sister squabbling in a delapidated old mansion on a remote part of the southern English coast. The recent death in mysterious circumstances of his father has plunged the family into poverty and forced them to abandon their friends and move here. As a way of coping with the isolation and his grief, Richard starts to write a journal. Distracted by various temptations, he only gradually discovers that his new neighbours are being terrorised by a series of strange and increasingly frightening events. Almost too late he realises that he himself has been ensnared in a concealed trap.

Praise for The Quincunx:

‘You read the first page and down you wonderfully fall, into a long, large, wide world of fiction.’ – New York Times

‘Quintuple the length of the ordinary novel, this extraordinary tour de force also has five times the ordinary allotment of adventure, action and aplomb.’ – Publishers Weekly

‘Palliser combines an eye for social detail and vivid descriptions of the dark side of 19th-century London with a gift for intricate plotting and sinister character development reminiscent of 19th-century novels... A gripping novel. Highly recommended.’ –Library Journal

About author
Before becoming a full-time writer in 1990, Charles Palliser taught literature and creative writing in universities in the UK and the USA. His novel The Quincunx was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. His fiction has been translated into a dozen languages. He has also written for radio and television.

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