Titus Awakes

Book excerpt: The final novel of the acclaimed fantasy series continues the adventures of Titus, Earl of Groan, completed by the author’s widow based on his fragments. Mervyn Peake’s series of novels featuring the inhabitants of Gormenghast castle are “a work of extraordinary imagination.” After Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Alone, Peake was working on a fourth chapter in the series before his death. Maeve Gilmore, Mervyn Peake's widow, wrote Titus Awakes based on those pages left behind by Peake (The New Yorker). Titus Awakes picks up the story of Titus, 77th Earl of Groan, as he wanders through the modern world. Fans of the Gormenghast novels will relish this continuation of the world Peake created and of the lives of unforgettable characters from the original novels, including the scheming Steerpike, Titus's sister Fuchsia, and the long-serving Dr. Prunesquallor. Published a century after Peake's birth, this strikingly original novel provides a moving coda to Peake's masterwork.