Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead

"Comyns' novel is deranged in ways that shouldn't be disclosed." --Ben Marcus

This is the story of the Willoweed family and the English village in which they live. It begins mid-flood, ducks swimming in the drawing-room windows, "quacking their approval" as they sail around the room. "What about my rose beds?" demands Grandmother Willoweed. Her son shouts down her ear-trumpet that the garden is submerged, dead animals everywhere, she will be lucky to get a bunch. Then the miller drowns himself . . . then the butcher slits his throat . . . and a series of gruesome deaths plagues the villagers. The newspaper asks, "Who will be smitten by this fatal madness next?" Through it all, Comyns' unique voice weaves a text as wonderful as it is horrible, as beautiful as it is cruel. Originally published in England in 1954, this "overlooked small masterpiece" is a twisted, tragicomic gem.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Dorothy a Publishing Project
Published: 11/01/2010
ISBN: 9780984469314
Pages: 216
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 6.90h x 5.50w x 0.70d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 01/10/2011