An eerie novel from the bestselling Booker Prize-winning author. Evelyn marries Laura, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat, and looks forward to financial freedom. Just before the patriarch's death, the plans of a substantial inheritance are in doubt, and a series of otherworldly occurrences exacerbate Evelyn's already frayed nerves.

Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me. 1899. As the new century approaches, English hack writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat, and looks forward to the financial freedom this will afford him. But in the midst of a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch''s death, Evelyn''s plans of a substantial inheritance are thrown into doubt. As the unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice for New Year at Palazzo Dioscuri - the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarig - a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences exacerbate Evelyn''s already frayed nerves: is it just the sea mist blanketing the floating city or is he losing his mind?

Autorentext
JOHN BANVILLE was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of many novels, including The Book of Evidence, the 2005 Booker Prize-winning The Sea, and, more recently, the bestselling Strafford and Quirke crime series, which has twice been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger.

Klappentext

A SUNDAY TIMES AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR, **SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2025
****FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SNOW AND *THE SEA

***Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me. . .***
Winter 1899, and strange things are afoot. As the new century approaches, English hack writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat. But in the midst of a rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn's plans for a substantial inheritance look to be dashed.

Arriving in Venice for their belated honeymoon at Palazzo Dioscuri - the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo - the couple are met by a series of seemingly
otherworldly occurrences, which exacerbate Evelyn's already frayed nerves. Is it just the sea mist blanketing the floating city, or is he really losing his mind?

'A marvellous and rewarding novelist . . . He is a magician, really.' THE SCOTSMAN
**'Banville has a grim gift of seeing people's souls.' DON DeLILLO
****'The most eminent innovator in Irish fiction of the last 50 years.' IRISH TIMES
'One of my favourite writers alive.' REBECCA F. KUANG
'Banville writes prose of such luscious elegance.'** NEW YORK TIMES