The Pied Piper's Poison - Hardcover

Wallace, Christopher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585670138 ISBN 13: 9781585670130

Publisher: Overlook Books, 2000

Synopsis

Winter 1946, and strange things are happening at Tarutz quarantine camp in southern Poland where a group of refugees have fallen victim to a horrific, unidentifiable disease. A young doctor is sent to identify the mysterious affliction now working its way through a growing list of victims.

Winter 1648, and the ancient town of Hamelin is struggling to survive the most savage war Europe has ever known. Besieged by a vicious mercenary army, confounded by the endless machinations of its leaders, and gripped by starvation, fever and vermin, Hamelin is desperate for any respite.

Is there a connection between the two calamities? In a novel of gritty intelligence, Christopher Wallace reveals the truth behind the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, involving the reader in the devils and demons who patrol the great European plain ready to seize their moment whenever chaos invites them in.

About this title

Review:

‘Quite simply stunning.’
Brian Davis, Time Out

‘Assured, ambitious... The novel’s true achievement lies in its depiction of the chaos, despair, and privations which poisoned both victors and vanquished in the aftermath of the Second World War... a fascinating first novel.’
Michael Arditti, The Times

‘Wallace’s fine debut novel taps straight into the murderous black heart of the age... highly ambitious and stunningly successful.’
Peter Whittaker, Independent

From the Back Cover:

It is winter 1946 and Robert Watt, a young Army doctor, is sent to a camp in southern Poland, charged with discovering why refugees are dying of a hideous and unidentifiable disease. Is the camp being used by Russian doctors as a macabre experiment into the effects of radiation? Or are the symptoms of the disease, as Watt’s misanthropic colleague Arthur Lee believes, proof of poison that lurks within the human psyche?

This account of a young man adrift and seeking solace in medical certainties is deftly interwoven with pages from Arthur’s research paper on that most enduring of folk myths, the Pied Piper of Hamelin...These parallel narratives lead to a climax which is at once genuinely shocking and a hugely satisfying resolution to the mystery. Wallace’s book is a grainy, honest attempt to probe those dark areas we give novelists sanction to investigate. As such, it is both highly ambitious and stunningly successful.”
PETER WHITTAKER ' Independent '

“Kafka’s ' Metamorphosis ', Suskind’s 'Perfume' and David Lynch’s ' Twin Peaks ' all rolled into one – sounds good? If so, then read Wallace’s ambitious first novel, 'The Pied Piper’s Poison'. It is a heady mixture of historical drama, romance and moral allegory. Wallace’s prose style is remarkably fluent and never dull.”
TOM ANGIER 'Literary Review '

“This young Edinburgh – based writer is the first discovery of the New Year. A superbly imagined, expertly executed two-stream historical novel, linking early Cold War Europe with the horrific legacy of the Thirty Years War.”
SCOTSMAN

About this edition

• Publisher: Overlook Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1585670138
• ISBN 13: 9781585670130
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 298