Boy In Darkness The Centenary Edition [Paperback]

Master of the macabre, Mervin Peake, retells the story of young Titus Groan who, tired of the endless and senseless ritual of the kingdom of Gormenghast, leaves the boundaries of the world in which he grew up to embark on an adventure that sees him trapped in a desert of grey space.

Rich in both language and imagery, Boy in Darkness is intriguing and compelling and bears all the hallmarks of the Gormenghast trilogy that has captured, delighted and appalled the imaginations of readers of all ages.

A captivating introduction to the work of Mervyn Peake, Boy in Darkness is a classic and fantastical tale that will appeal to anyone who enjoys good story-telling and is not afraid to dip their literary toes into deeper, darker waters. Age 11 and over. --Susan Harrison --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

In cooperation with the Mervyn Peake Estate and to coincide with the Mervyn Peake Centenary Year, Peter Owen has gathered together a selection of long out-of-print short stories, and a good number of never before published illustrations, by one of England s most unique and multi-talented artists. Boy in Darkness , the centrepiece of this collection, will be of special interest to fans of the Gormenghast books, as it comprises a chapter in the life of Titus Groan that unfolds beyond the pages of Peake s monumental trilogy. A disturbingly atmospheric tale, told with the force and simplicity of allegory, Boy in Darkness distils the strange logic of the Gormenghast trilogy into a story of pith and mystery, which bears comparison with Kafka and Poe. Written across a range of genres, from a ghost story, to wry character studies drawn from his life in London and on the Isle of Sark, the other stories in the volume reveal surprisingly different facets of Peake s uncanny imagination. Ultimately, the collection coheres through Peake s powers to enchant the mundane and to render the fantastic normal.

Mervyn Peake was born in China in 1911 of medical missionary parents. He began to draw, paint and write stories at an early age. His first book of poems, Shapes and Sounds, was published in 1941but he is best known for his pioneering Titus novels Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone which have become classics in the literary fantasy genre. Mervyn Peake died after a long illness in 1968, just as his reputation as one of England s best-loved 20th century writers began to take hold.