The Glutton

A New York Times EDITORSΓÇÖ CHOICE | Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize | MOST ANTICIPATED by The Guardian ΓÇó Paste Magazine ΓÇó LitHub ΓÇó The Millions ΓÇó Library Journal From the prizewinning author of The Manningtree Witches,a subversive historical novel set during the French Revolutioninspired by a young peasant boy turned showmansaid to have been tormented and driven to murder by an all-consuming appetite. ΓÇ£Obscenely beautifulΓǪEvery sentence is gorgeous…Powerful and provocative.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöThe New York Times Book Review ΓÇ£This yearI found myself seeking one quality above all others from the books I read: escapism. And no book plunged me into another world quite so bracingly as The Glutton.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöVogue 1798France. Nuns move along the dark corridors of a Versailles hospital where the young Sister Perpetu├⌐ has been tasked with sitting with the patient who must always be watched. The mangauntwith his sallow skin and distended bellyis dying: they say he ate a golden forkand that itΓÇÖs killing him from the inside. But thatΓÇÖs not allΓÇöhe is rumored to have done monstrous things in his attempts to sate an insatiable appetiteΓǪan appetite they say tortures him still. Born in an impoverished village to a widowed young motherTarare was once overflowing with quiet affection: for the Baby Jesus and the many Saintsfor his motherfor the plants and little creatures in the woods and fields around their house. He spends his days aloneobserving the delicate charms of the countryside. But his world is not a gentle oneΓÇöand soonlife as he knew it is violently upended. Tarare is pitched down a chaotic path through revolutionary Franceleft to the mercy of strangersand increasinglybottomlesslyravenous. This exhilaratingdisquieting novel paints a richly imagined life for The Great TarareThe Glutton of Lyon in 18th-century France: a world of desirehunger and poverty; hopechaos and survival. As in her cult hit The Manningtree WitchesBlakemore showcases her stunning lyricism and deep compassion for characters pushed to the edge of society in The Gluttonher most unputdownable work yet.