In this rich and absorbing tale of depravity, pleasure and class, the author of the former Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month The Manningtree Witches serves up another glorious evocation of the past, as a hungry peasant embarks on a curious crusade in revolutionary France.
Signed Edition
A Standard Edition is also available
Sister Perpetue is not to move. She is not to fall asleep. She is to sit, keeping guard over the patient's room.
She has heard the stories of his hunger, which defy belief: that he has eaten all manner of creatures and objects. A child even, if the rumours are to be believed.
But it is hard to believe that this slender, frail man is the one they once called The Great Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon. Before, he was just Tarare. Well-meaning and hopelessly curious, born into a world of brawling and sweet cider, to a bereaved mother and a life of slender means.
The 18th Century is drawing to a close, unrest grips the heart of France and life in the village is soon shaken. When a sudden act of violence sees Tarare cast out and left for dead, his ferocious appetite is ignited, and it's not long before his extraordinary abilities to eat make him a marvel throughout the land.
Following Tarare as he travels from the South of France to Paris and beyond, through the heart of the Revolution, The Glutton is an electric, heart-stopping journey into a world of tumult, upheaval and depravity, wherein the hunger of one peasant is matched only by the insatiable demands of the people of France.
Publisher: Granta Books
ISBN: 9781803510552
Number of pages: 336
Dimensions: 216 x 138 mm
This was incredible!
The subject matter was just so interesting that I had to pick it up, and thankfully Blakemore is an excellent writer.
The writing is beautiful and grotesque. I struggled between reading it...
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I loved this so so much. It is oh so dark and atmospheric and harrowing and really quite appalling - but in the best way. A very gruesome read that reminded me of ‘Perfume’ by Patrick Süskind. I don’t think I’ll... More
Very like ‘The Manningtree Witches’, Blakemore researches the truth about a ‘legend’. This time, of Tarare, a peasant living near Lyon just after The French Revolution. His legendary status is down to his insatiable... More
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