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In Ballingschap (2013)

by Charles Palliser(Favorite Author)

3.31 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Prometheus

review 1: Intrigue and mystery are skillfully crafted in this gothic tale about a changeable and excitable young man returned to his mother and sister after being thrown out of school. Doubts about our "rusticated" narrator are delightfully drawn to confuse and obfuscate the apparently strange and disturbing relationships and behaviors of the family and townspeople. This was a deviously deceptive who-done-it at heart in which even the atmosphere and geography serve to create doubt.
review 2: I've now read all five of Charles Palliser's novels. They're sometimes marvellous (The Quincunx), sometimes unmarvellous (The Sensationist), sometimes solid and engaging (The Unburied), and sometimes all of the above and experimental to boot (Betrayals). But what you can always cou... morent on from Palliser is unreliable narrators, tons of hidden human nastiness to be uncovered, and a ripping read. Rustication is no exception.The emphasis in Rustication is on the human nastiness. Murder, illicit sex, pedophilia, drug addiction, animal abuse, incestuous tension, and tons of old-fashioned meanness. The story is still engaging in a "love to hate everyone" sort of way. The peeling back of the onion of layers of deception and wrongdoing keeps the reading engagement high. And the grotesque and naive narrator is a riot. But, boy, is it lurid.For me, a high three. less

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