Farundell - Tapa dura

'Farundell is a marvellously dark and intricate literary gothic novel. The style is elegant and engaging and the storyline compelling. This is an author to watch.' * Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat * 'Beautifully written . . . I am sure it will appeal to many people' * Daily Mail * 'Descriptively, conceptually and emotionally captivating' * Easy Living * 'A richly ambitious debut novel . . . one cannot help but be swept away by Fredericks' bold intentions' * Financial Times *

FARUNDELL is a story of magical awakening as a young man searches for meaning in the aftermath of the First World War, a young girl comes of age and an old man journeys through memory to death. There's an enigmatic book, an erotic obsession, magic both black and white, a ghost who's not a ghost, a murder that's not a murder, a treasure that's not a treasure. It's about love, loss and longing; language, imagination and the nature of reality. In the golden summer of 1924 Paul Asher, still shattered by the trauma of the Western Front, comes to Farundell, an idyllic country house set deep in the Oxfordshire countryside. There, he falls under the spell of the rich and eccentric Damory family: the celebrated Amazon explorer Perceval, Lord Damory, now blind and dying, whose story echoes Paul's own strange dreams, brilliant thirteen-year-old Alice, on the cusp of adulthood and, like Paul, a seeker of knowledge and, most fatefully, the wild and beautiful Sylvie, with whom he falls passionately in love. Before summer's end, there will be tragedy, comedy, resolution and, for Paul, a revelation that will change his life forever. A stunningly original debut novel, Farundell is literary fiction with a metaphysical twist. Although complete in itself, it is the first in a linked series of novels about these people, places and themes.