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... as well it should, given the title.
Even better — or worse — its page edges are the deepest black. Like you're about to get your hands dirty by picking it up. Between this and the cover, the packaging is very clever.
The tagline, and one of the first lines in the novel, is "This is going to be a little uncomfortable." I'm forewarned.My copy arrived yesterday from Book Depository, ordered as part of my quest to travel to new places and times through historical fiction... and colonial Peru, circa 1784, is certainly unique. Plus I loved the author's earlier Carnevale, set in 18th-c Venice, and I understand her heroine, Cecelia Cornaro, makes an appearance here.
I'm not sure it's my type of book, but I'm willing to have my horizons expanded, and history isn't always pretty. There's an interview with the author at Penguin Canada's site. "A breathtaking story of unmitigated villainy, Holy Anorexia, quack medicine, murder, love, and a very unusual form of bibliomania," says the back cover. It's out from Bloomsbury UK this month, and from Penguin Canada in June. I hope to read it, and maybe review it here, in due course.
I have no idea what it's about, but the title is a definite strike against it. Is it fiction or non-fiction? (If it's non-fiction, it could be a legitimate work about ways that human skin/nudity have influenced the world. If it's fiction, then it makes me think that it's about a psychopath who likes to skin and tan people.)
ReplyDeleteIt's a novel; there's more info at the interview site I linked to. The title's meant to be an attention-grabber, and it seems to be aimed at readers who enjoyed Patrick Süskind's bestselling novel Perfume. There's a review at Fictional Cities which refrains from giving too much away.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely creept! I wouldn't have touched it until you wrote it's got something about bibliomania.. I am intrigued!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just weird, but this sounds *awesome*.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely creepy but I would like to know more about it.
ReplyDeleteYour review will be interesting to read.
The title becomes clearer if you read the book. One of the characters has a thing about unique book-binding materials, shall we say.
ReplyDeleteI guessed as much, with the hints about the "unusual form of bibliomania." It's next on my list to read.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your review!
I've just started this book. Effort went into it's appearance, it's written in the first person by several characters and each one has it's own font. Can't say how good it is as I'm only a couple of pages into it but it feels good at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThis is far too late & I'm sure no-one will see this now but I wanted to say I've finished this book. I really enjoyed it, a bit 'uncomfortable' here & there, even a bit slow in places - it's half way through before the characters merge together but their individual stories that explain how they become involved are interesting enough. It makes you want to stay with it. Only thing that annoyed me, I thought the reasons that Sor Loreta kept getting away with what she did were very lame.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting your thoughts on the book - I appreciate it, as I've been caught up in other things and haven't had a chance to read it yet. Glad to hear it was enjoyable overall.
ReplyDelete