Melmoth the Wanderer 1820

This sinister classic by Charles Robert Maturin, an eccentric Anglican priest from Ireland, has captured theimaginations of readers since its publication in 1820 and provided inspiration for many other Gothic masterpieces, including Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Sarah Perry's Melmoth.When a young Dublin student goes to say farewell to his dying uncle, he is mystified to find a locked room containing a portrait of a ravaged-looking man, which his uncle is too frightened to look at. John Melmoth has chanced upon a family secret which only gives rise to more questions. As he ventures further into the mystery, an intricate and blood-chilling story begins to unfold. For the pastone hundred and fifty years, Melmoth the Wanderer has been searching desperately for an escape from the infernal bargain he once made. The trail of his destruction reaches from Inquisition-era Spain to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, and finally to County Wicklow, where John is still piecing the story together ...'An enormous stride in the evolution of the horror tale'H. P. Lovecraft'The crowning achievement of the Gothic romance'Devendra P. Varma