441. Titus Groan

Titus Groan
Mervyn Peake
1946
Around 400 pages

I never thought a man named Mervyn would be capable of bringing me such pleasure. But I absolutely adore this novel. We rarely have fantasy/gothic novels on the List, so this was a real treat for me. I would highly recommend for anybody that enjoys better known fantasy sagas.

The book is set in the castle of Gormenghast, the ancient and crumbling residence of the Groan family. Lord Sepulchrave is the head of the household, and is largely uninterested in his duties as a lord, and instead just wants to read all the time. Are you starting to see why I'm doting over this novel? Anyway, we have a host of excellent characters. Favorites include Mr Flay, Lord Sepulchrave's personal servant who is religiously devoted to the castle's wellbeing and the villainous kitchen boy Steerpike, who wouldn't be out of place as a Shakespearean villain. And then there is the excellent cast of female characters, including a freaky set of twins and Countess Gertrude, who is always surrounded by her army of white cats. 

When you have characters as rich as Peake does, you simply put them all in place and the action flow smoothly based on their interactions with each other. I didn't even mention Titus, the infant son of Lord Sepulchrave and Gertrude, and his older sister Fuchsia. 

I am delighted that there is a sequel to this novel, it definitely needs one. I absolutely love fantasy, it's so relaxing to escape into this fairy tale world. One of my favorite finds from the List.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

The series has been translated into 25+ languages.

His widow finished the series after his death with Titus Alone.

UP NEXT: Back by Henry Green. This guy is sticking to me like a bad habit.