The Quincunx - by Charles Palliser (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: Great Britain: Canongate, 1989.

Book Synopsis

An extraordinary modern novel in the Victorian tradition, Charles Palliser has created something extraordinary--a plot within a plot within a plot of family secrets, mysterious clues, low-born birth, high-reaching immorality, and, always, always the fog-enshrouded, enigmatic character of 19th century--London itself.

"So compulsively absorbing that reality disappears . . . One is swept along by those enduring emotions that defy modern art and a random universe: hunger for revenge, longing for justice and the fantasy secretly entertained by most people that the bad will be punished and the good rewarded."--The New York Times

"A virtuoso achievement . . . It is an epic, a tour de force, a staggeringly complex and tantalizingly layered tale that will keep readers engrossed in days. . . . The Quincunx will not disappoint you. It is, quite simply, superb."--Chicago Sun-Times

"A bold and vivid tale that invites the reader to get lost in the intoxicating rhythms of another world. And the invitation is irresistible."--San Francisco Chronicle

"A remarkable book . . . In mood, color, atmosphere and characters, this is Charles Dickens reincarnated . . . It is an immersing experience."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"To read the first pages is to be trapped for seven-hundred odd more: you cannot stop turning them."--The New Yorker

"Few books, at most a dozen or two in a lifetime, affect us this way. . . . For sheer intricacy and ingenuity, for skill and clarity of storytelling, it is the kind of book readers wait for, a book to get lost in."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

Review Quotes

"So compulsively absorbing that reality disappears . . . One is swept along by those enduring emotions that defy modern art and a random universe: hunger for revenge, longing for justice and the fantasy secretly entertained by most people that the bad will be punished and the good rewarded."--The New York Times

"A virtuoso achievement . . . It is an epic, a tour de force, a staggeringly complex and tantalizingly layered tale that will keep readers engrossed in days. . . . The Quincunx will not disappoint you. It is, quite simply, superb."--Chicago Sun-Times

"A bold and vivid tale that invites the reader to get lost in the intoxicating rhythms of another world. And the invitation is irresistible."--San Francisco Chronicle

"A remarkable book . . . In mood, color, atmosphere and characters, this is Charles Dickens reincarnated . . . It is an immersing experience."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

"To read the first pages is to be trapped for seven-hundred odd more: you cannot stop turning them."--The New Yorker

"Few books, at most a dozen or two in a lifetime, affect us this way. . . . For sheer intricacy and ingenuity, for skill and clarity of storytelling, it is the kind of book readers wait for, a book to get lost in."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

About the Author

Charles Palliser's historical novels include The Quincunx, The Unburied, and Rustication. His fiction has been translated into a dozen languages. Palliser's The Quincunx was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He has written plays for BBC Radio and the stage. Prior to becoming a full-time writer in 1990, he taught literature and creative writing at universities in the UK and the USA. A graduate of Oxford University, Palliser lives in London.