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Happy Thursday! Today I have a review for Melmoth, a new Gothic Literary Fiction with a touch of Fantasy, from Sarah Perry and publishing by Custom House/Harper Collins on October 16, 2018!

My Thoughts:

Although Melmoth is set in the present, it has a dark, foreboding Gothic feel, not unlike an 18th century work. Set in Prague, we meet Helen Franklin, an English translator with a mysterious past. She carries tremendous guilt with her. 

Helen’s friend Karel finds a file holding letters from different periods of time. There are common themes of guilt within all these entries. There is a warning, too…Melmoth the Witness travels through time to observe everyone’s guilt. But what does she do with it? Does she hurt, or does she help? Or does she do nothing at all?

Helen’s story is remarkable and emotional. I loved her as a character. It’s not just what the story was, but how richly it was told. Sarah Perry has given a gift to the reader in the form of her words. 

The words I would use to describe Melmoth are inadequate and sift right through my fingertips, so I will end with this. In its glory, Melmoth is full of darkness and despair juxtaposed with drips and drabs of sheer hope and determination. If you are looking for a complex, literary read unlike any other, Melmoth is a solid and ultimately rewarding choice. 

Thanks to my Goodreads friend Tammy for the recommendation!

Thanks also to Custom House Books/Harper Collins for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own. 

Synopsis:

For centuries, the mysterious dark-robed figure has roamed the globe, searching for those whose complicity and cowardice have fed into the rapids of history’s darkest waters—and now, in Sarah Perry’s breathtaking follow-up to The Essex Serpent, it is heading in our direction.

It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working as a translator, she has found a home of sorts—or, at least, refuge. That changes when her friend Karel discovers a mysterious letter in the library, a strange confession and a curious warning that speaks of Melmoth the Witness, a dark legend found in obscure fairy tales and antique village lore. As such superstition has it, Melmoth travels through the ages, dooming those she persuades to join her to a damnation of timeless, itinerant solitude. To Helen it all seems the stuff of unenlightened fantasy.

But, unaware, as she wanders the cobblestone streets Helen is being watched. And then Karel disappears. . . .

Have you read Melmoth, or do you plan to? Have you read The Essex Serpent? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR