Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Taxidermist's Lover

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

From award-winning author Polly Hallcomes a "lyrical debut" (Booklist, Starred Review) and contemporary gothic tale "filled with startling conclusions about the nature of art and love and death" (NYT Book Review).

A modern Gothic tale of a woman obsessed with her lover's taxidermy creatures and haunted by her past.

One stormy Christmas, Scarlett recalls the ebb and flow of a yearlong love affair with Henry, a renowned taxidermist. Obsessed with his taxidermy creatures, she pushes him to outdo his colleague and world-famous rival in a crescendo of species-blending creativity. Scarlett will not be able to avoid a reckoning with her own past as Henry's inventions creep into her own thoughts, dreams, and desires.

Drenched in the torrential rains of the Somerset moorland and the sensual pleasures of the characters, The Taxidermist's Lover lures you ever deeper into Scarlett's delightfully eerie world.

Bram Stoker Award Shortlist for Superior Achievement in a First Novel

  • IPPY Awards 2021 Gold Medal Winner

    "Hall's writing is lush, filled with startling conclusions about the nature of art and love and death." —New York Times Book Review

    "The menace increases slowly but relentlessly, permeating every corner, and the twists, plentiful but also well earned, pile up, resolving in a near-perfect horror ending . . . [A] lyrical debut, told with the confidence of a veteran." —Booklist, Starred Review

    "Creepy and sensual . . . the tension between Scarlett and Henry is riveting . . . making The Taxidermist's Lover a luxurious, macabre romance." —Foreword Reviews

    "As strange as it is disturbing . . . It's [Scarlett's] highly personal confessional tone, exposed internal conflicts, grotesque dreams, and desires that draw the reader in." —Kirkus Reviews

    "Rich, decadent prose . . . allusions to The Bride of Frankenstein nicely ground the ending in the gothic tradition." —Publishers Weekly

    • Creators

    • Publisher

    • Awards

    • Release date

    • Formats

    • Languages

    • Reviews

      • Booklist

        November 1, 2020
        In this modern gothic, Scarlett recounts a calendar year with her taxidermist lover, Henry, the year he turned his trade into high art, mixing animals into creepy, hybrid creations. Told in two alternating time lines--one set on Christmas Day, at the end of a year where it is clear things have not gone well, and the other, in diary fashion with one chapter per month, including Scarlett's reflections on her troubled childhood, when she was orphaned along with her twin brother at age 10--this an absorbing story that sucks readers into its disquieting explorations of love, art, and what happens to the spirit when the body is preserved. As the months pass and ignorant bliss merges with darkness and threats both real and (maybe?) imagined, the menace increases slowly but relentlessly, permeating every corner, and the twists, plentiful but also well earned, pile up, resolving in a near-perfect horror ending. In this lyrical debut, told with the confidence of a veteran, Hall's protagonist, Scarlett, will get under your skin as you fall deeper into her increasingly claustrophobic world. For fans of immersive, highly personal, and dangerous stories like The Unsuitable (2020), by Molly Pohlig, and Fever Dream (2017), by Samanta Schweblin.

        COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    Formats

    • OverDrive Read
    • EPUB ebook

    Languages

    • English

    Loading