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by Charles Palliser
Charles Palliser's work has been hailed as "so compulsively absorbing that reality disappears" (New York Times). Since his extraordinary debut, The Quincunx, his works have sold over one million copies worldwide. With his new novel, Rustication, he returns to the town of Thurchester, which he evoked so hauntingly in The Unburied.
It is winter 1863, and Richard Shenstone, aged seventeen, has been sent down - "rusticated" - from Cambridge under a cloud of suspicion. Addicted to opium and tormented by sexual desire, he finds temporary refuge in a dilapidated old mansion on the southern English coast inhabited by his newly impoverished mother and his sister, Effie. Soon, graphic and threatening letters begin to circulate among his neighbors, and Richard finds himself the leading suspect in a series of crimes and misdemeanors ranging from vivisection to murder.
Atmospheric, lurid, and brilliantly executed, Rustication confirms Palliser's reputation as "our leading contemporary Victorian novelist" (Guardian).
"Starred Review. Though its graphic passages may be disconcerting to some readers, the novel wraps a genuinely memorable reflection on family and human fallibility in a wickedly entertaining, intricately plotted read." - Publishers Weelky
"Paranoia reigns supreme as the twists and turns keep multiplying in this gothic horror show adeptly spun by the author of The Quincunx." - Booklist
"Palliser vividly captures the claustrophobic feeling of a small Victorian community being overwhelmed by anxiety and mistrust..." - Library Journal
"Appropriately moody, lurid stuff but with plenty of plot cogwheels exposed." - Kirkus
"The gripping voice and masterful plotting swirl together in a relentless undertow of gothic intrigue and dread that's impossible to resist. Not that you'll want to. This is a brilliant read." - Kieran Shields, author of The Truth of All Things
"This is an extremely clever novel in which not only is there a mystery in the invented nineteenth century world of the story but also a mystery about the nature of the text the reader is reading." - Jane Harris, author of The Observations
"A wonderful, sly, compelling tale of mischief, greed, and malice." - Valerie Martin, author of Property
"Charles Palliser is a wonderful novelist, and Rustication is a wonderful novel." - Iain Pears, author of An Instance of the Fingerpost
This information about Rustication was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Charle Palliser was born in Massachusetts, but has lived in the UK since the age of three. A graduate of Oxford University, he has published four novels. He lives in London, where he writes full time.
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