Galilee: A Great Fall or Halloween Read

Barker, Clive

ISBN 10: 0060179473 / ISBN 13: 9780060179472

Published by HarperCollins, 1998

Item in acceptable condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00096006793

Synopsis:

The internationally popular writer of dark fantasy tells the story of two affluent American families, a young woman, and the epic battle she ignites between them that raises the forces of evil. 100,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Review: Over many years and through many books Clive Barker has earned a reputation as the thinking person's horror writer. His novels have mixed fantasy, psychology and sheer creepiness in almost equal quantities, and while the gore quotient remains relatively low the tension always runs high. However, in Galilee Barker tones down the ghoulish in favour of the gothic. His novel (or as the author would have it, "romance") tells the tale of two warring families caught up in a disastrous web of corruption, illicit sexuality and star-crossed love, with a soupçon of the supernatural thrown in as well. On one side are the wealthy Gearys--a fictional stand-in for the Kennedys--and on the other are the Barbarossas, a mysterious black clan that has been around--quite literally--since the time of Adam. Galilee chronicles the twisted course of this centuries- old family feud which centres around the magical Barbarossa matriarch Cesaria and her son Galilee. Indeed, it's the latter figure--one part Heathcliff to one part Christ--whose relationship with the Geary women sets a match to the entire powder keg of hostility and resentment. Mixing standard clichés of romance with his own peculiarly deep-fried version of the Southern gothic, Baker has come up with an intelligent and shamelessly amusing potboiler.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Galilee: A Great Fall or Halloween Read
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 1998
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Acceptable