Kept : a Victorian mystery /
A talented and versatile writer, author of The Comedy Man (2001) and a biography of George Orwell (2003), Taylor presents a literary Victorian mystery that combines a Dickensian cast of characters with the dark foreboding of Poe. In a story ostensibly about a madwoman whose husband, Henry Ireland, d...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
HarperCollins Publishers,
[2007]
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| Edition: | 1st ed., Uncorrected proof. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | A talented and versatile writer, author of The Comedy Man (2001) and a biography of George Orwell (2003), Taylor presents a literary Victorian mystery that combines a Dickensian cast of characters with the dark foreboding of Poe. In a story ostensibly about a madwoman whose husband, Henry Ireland, dies in questionable circumstances, finding the killer is ancillary to a journey into the human psyche. Mr. Dixey, a naturalist whose country manse contains rare specimens of stuffed and live wildlife, also houses Henry's distraught widow: her precarious sanity is secure in protective isolation. Dixey's shady proclivities lead him to a con man whose opportunism makes financial captives of people of all classes. The novel's deliciously drawn-out pacing mirrors Victorian literature, as does the wonderfully descriptive language ("skeins of birds," "mournful in the gloaming") and sophisticated vocabulary ("encomia pronounced over his catafalque"). A refreshing lack of unbelievable coincidences reflects a more modern style: each person's story realistically demonstrates the author's conclusions about the things we collect and the people we cannot. Book groups will enjoy this one. |
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| Item Description: | "Originally published in a different form in Great Britain in 2006 by Chatto & Windus"--Title page verso. |
| Physical Description: | 463 pages ; 23 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [455]-463). |
| ISBN: | 0061146080 9780061146084 |