London Satyr by Robert Edric

London Satyr

Robert Edric

A vivid, sometimes ironical, portrait of the Victorian obsession with sex and death. Seedy photographer Charles Webster and his spiritualist wife perfectly exemplify this obsession and also the Victorian capacity for self-delusion - which makes for fascinating but far from easy reading. Worth the effort though.

Extract
'All that matters now is that Wheeler rids this city of all its depravity, filth and corruption, and that its God-fearing citizens are allowed to live out their lives without either the shadow or the stink of all that depravity, filth and corruption coming anywhere near them.'
We both laughed at this - at the great lie it revealed and the even greater truth it buried deep.
Parallels
  • The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
  • The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
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Violence
Explicit sexual content