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Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy is widely acknowledged to be, as Robertson Davies pronounced, "a classic of our age." In these extraordinary novels, Peake created a world where all is like a dream—lush, fantastical, and vivid. Yet it was incomplete. Parkinson's disease took Peake's life in 1968, depriving his fans of the fourth and final volume of the series, Titus Awakes except for a few tantalizing pages, after which his writing became indecipherable. Or so it seemed.
In January of 2010, Peake's granddaughter found four composition books in her attic. They contained the fabled Titus Awakes in its entirety. Peake had outlined the novel for his wife, Maeve Gilmore, who had at last finished Peake's masterpiece.
It starts with Titus leaving Castle Gormenghast. Peake wrote: With every pace he drew away from Gormenghast mountain, and from everything that belonged to his home. That night, as Titus lay asleep in the tall barn, a nightmare held him.
Fans of Peake will delight in this new, wonderful novel, published one hundred years after his birth, every bit as thrilling and masterfully written as his famed trilogy.
Introduction Brian Sibley vii
Foreword Maeve Gilmore xv
1 Titus Awakes from the Snows 1
2 Titus Among the Snows 7
3 Sacrifice. Behold 13
4 Titus's Awakening 17
5 As the Spring Awakes, So Do the Two Strangers 23
6 Awakening Is Sweet Sorrow 27
7 Living Refound 29
8 Life Can Be a Miracle 33
9 Autumn and Winter, the Pain of Both 39
10 Away from the Mountains 43
11 Titus Learns of Other Loves 49
12 Among the Rivers 55
13 They Reach the Archipelagos and Forests 63
14 Lagoons - Fires 69
15 Among the Soldiers 75
16 Still Among the Soldiers 83
17 Back at Camp 89
18 Plans of Escape 97
19 Escape 103
20 An Unexpected Meeting 113
21 An Affectionate Welcome 129
22 Titus as Model 141
23 Titus Thinks of the Past 153
24 Moments of Serenity 159
25 At Mrs Sempleton-Grove's 167
26 From Riches to Rags 177
27 Other Places, Other Work 185
28 Among the Dead Men 191
29 Intimations of Other Days 199
30 Happening in a Side Street 207
31 Under the Masks 215
32 A Sanctuary 225
33 An Unwelcome Interlude 237
34 The End of an Unwelcome Interlude 251
35 Search Without End 257
Overview
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy is widely acknowledged to be, as Robertson Davies pronounced, "a classic of our age." In these extraordinary novels, Peake created a world where all is like a dream—lush, fantastical, and vivid. Yet it was incomplete. Parkinson's disease took Peake's life in 1968, depriving his fans of the fourth and final volume of the series, Titus Awakes except for a few tantalizing pages, after which his writing became indecipherable. Or so it seemed.
In ...