The Pleasures of Men

Kate Williams

1840. A serial killer terrorises the Spitalfields area of London. In the claustrophobic and confusing atmosphere of her uncle's decaying house, teenage Catherine doesn't know who she can trust, and comes to discount even her own memories. A twisting, chilling modern take on the Gothic.

Extract

Jane arrived and I poured the tea. My uncle started to ask polite questions about the Janissers. Her gaze flickered around the pictures, the ornaments, the falling furniture, her face surprised and her pupils huge, thanks to the gloom. Perhaps I seemed to her a giant female spider in the midst of a dew-dropped web. Then she turned to me. 'I enjoyed our conversation at the Belle-Smyth's,' she said, one long-fingered hand on the twisting green of her lap.

Parallels