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The Quincunx #2
The Quincunx: The Mompessons
Desperate times and darker mysteries abound in this extraordinary historical thriller
But then their luck seems to change when they discover the hospitable Miss Quilliam. And a way out of debt and disaster seems to offer itself with a momentous decision, one that will shape everything: to sell the most valuable thing they own.
The Quincunx
The Huffams
The Mompessons
The Clothiers
The Palphramonds
The Maliphants
With their savings rapidly running out, and the world turning against them, John and his mother are pursued by bailiffs and forced to move. Taking refuge with the Isbister family, they flee upon discovering a shocking dark side to their hosts.
But then their luck seems to change when they discover the hospitable Miss Quilliam. And a way out of debt and disaster seems to offer itself with a momentous decision, one that will shape everything: to sell the most valuable thing they own.
Life is never so easy, and cruelty, danger and disease are never far away...
The second Part of the unputdownable classic, The Quincunx, is the ideal read for fans of S.J. Parris or Peter Ackroyd.
Praise for The Quincunx
‘Grips like steel… it’s a book to make you miss your stop on the bus or the train, keep you up at night and wake you early… a formidable achievement’ Kaleidoscope, BBC Radio 4
‘His brilliant and entertaining pastiche of the mid-nineteenth-century novel’ The Times
‘A brilliant and deeply eccentric attempt to reproduce an early Victorian novel…it combines massive scope with minute detail – there is a cast of thousands, but every figure is lovingly painted. The plot is so thick the spoon stands up in it, and by the end, the reader has toured the whole of late Regency society… Magnificent – gripping and beautifully written; the sort of book that sends you into a trance of pleasure’ Independent
‘Charles Palliser has realised a world that can almost be smelt and tasted as it pours off the page of this gripping, extraordinary novel’ Daily Telegraph
‘His plot is of an intricacy that Wilkie Collins himself might have envied… an astonishing achievement’ Scotsman446 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1989
25 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Charles Palliser
33 books204 followersCharles Palliser (born December 11, 1947) is an American-born, British-based novelist. He is the elder brother of the late author and freelance journalist Marcus Palliser.
Born in New England, Palliser is an American citizen, but has lived in the United Kingdom since the age of three. He attended Oxford University in 1967 to read English Language and Literature, and took a First in June 1970. He was awarded the B. Litt. in 1975 for a dissertation on Modernist fiction.
From 1974 until 1990, Palliser was a Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He was the first Deputy Editor of The Literary Review when it was founded in 1979. He taught creative writing during the Spring semester of 1986 at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In 1990 he gave up his university post to become a full-time writer when his first novel, The Quincunx, became an international best-seller. He has published four novels which have been translated into a dozen languages.
Palliser has also written for the theatre, radio, and television. His stage play, Week Nothing, toured Scotland in 1980. His 90 minute radio play, The Journal of Simon Owen, was commissioned by the BBC and twice broadcast on Radio 4 in June, 1982. His short TV film, Obsessions: Writing, was broadcast by the BBC and published by BBC Publications in 1991. Most recently, his short radio play, Artist with Designs, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 21 February 2004.
He teaches occasionally for the Arvon Foundation, the Skyros Institute, London University, the London Metropolitan University, and Middlesex University. He was Writer in Residence at Poitiers University in 1997.
In 1991, The Quincunx was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters which is given for the best first novel published in North America. The Unburied was nominated for the 2001 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Since 1990 he has written the Introduction to a Penguin Classics edition of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the Foreword to a new French translation of Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone published by Editions Phebus, and other articles on 19th century and contemporary fiction. He is a past member of the long-running North London Writers circle.
Born in New England, Palliser is an American citizen, but has lived in the United Kingdom since the age of three. He attended Oxford University in 1967 to read English Language and Literature, and took a First in June 1970. He was awarded the B. Litt. in 1975 for a dissertation on Modernist fiction.
From 1974 until 1990, Palliser was a Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He was the first Deputy Editor of The Literary Review when it was founded in 1979. He taught creative writing during the Spring semester of 1986 at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In 1990 he gave up his university post to become a full-time writer when his first novel, The Quincunx, became an international best-seller. He has published four novels which have been translated into a dozen languages.
Palliser has also written for the theatre, radio, and television. His stage play, Week Nothing, toured Scotland in 1980. His 90 minute radio play, The Journal of Simon Owen, was commissioned by the BBC and twice broadcast on Radio 4 in June, 1982. His short TV film, Obsessions: Writing, was broadcast by the BBC and published by BBC Publications in 1991. Most recently, his short radio play, Artist with Designs, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 21 February 2004.
He teaches occasionally for the Arvon Foundation, the Skyros Institute, London University, the London Metropolitan University, and Middlesex University. He was Writer in Residence at Poitiers University in 1997.
In 1991, The Quincunx was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters which is given for the best first novel published in North America. The Unburied was nominated for the 2001 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Since 1990 he has written the Introduction to a Penguin Classics edition of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the Foreword to a new French translation of Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone published by Editions Phebus, and other articles on 19th century and contemporary fiction. He is a past member of the long-running North London Writers circle.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 24, 2022
The saga gets better and better. What an extraordinary depiction of nineteenth century England, with such a thick plot that keeps you intrigued and really concerned about the miseries of those poor characters,so utterly wretched by the greed and lack of humanity of the ones in power.
April 13, 2019
Book 2 of 5.
A bit of a slog. BUT I will read all five books in what is really a Dickensian melodrama, as it does hold my interest.
It’s essentially a story of mean men propagating a fraud against a naive woman who relies on the intelligence and strength of her son to survive attacks and avoid homelessness.
If your curiosity is awakened, there are many commentaries on the net. I will not offer more details. The events started converging in my pea brain so I admit to some confusion. Perhaps book 3 will elucidate rather than confuse me further.
A bit of a slog. BUT I will read all five books in what is really a Dickensian melodrama, as it does hold my interest.
It’s essentially a story of mean men propagating a fraud against a naive woman who relies on the intelligence and strength of her son to survive attacks and avoid homelessness.
If your curiosity is awakened, there are many commentaries on the net. I will not offer more details. The events started converging in my pea brain so I admit to some confusion. Perhaps book 3 will elucidate rather than confuse me further.
January 20, 2019
Love the style and characters
For me the constant dire circumstances became a bit much, and yet it didn't stop me devouring every page, nor queuing up the next in sequence that I'm anxious to begin! 😊
For me the constant dire circumstances became a bit much, and yet it didn't stop me devouring every page, nor queuing up the next in sequence that I'm anxious to begin! 😊
September 29, 2022
Utterly bonkers. Mostly in a good way. If you’ve made it to the end of the second volume then you may as well accept that you’re committed and try to get as much from this experience as you can.
April 26, 2015
Dans ce 2ème tome, nous retrouvons Johnny et sa mère à Londres dans le dénuement le plus total. Malheureusement pour eux, leur état n’était déjà pas très glorieux en quittant Melthorpe et rien ne s’arrange en arrivant à la capitale.
Ce livre est toujours aussi dur à lire car il ne respire pas la joie et il décrit bien la vie difficile des petites gens à Londres et en Angleterre au début du 20ème siècle. J’ai tout de même préféré ce tome au précédent, le rythme y est plus soutenu et il se passe beaucoup plus de choses. J’ai donc hâte de lire la suite.
En bref : à lire avec un mouchoir à la main pour essuyer ses larmes.
Ce livre est toujours aussi dur à lire car il ne respire pas la joie et il décrit bien la vie difficile des petites gens à Londres et en Angleterre au début du 20ème siècle. J’ai tout de même préféré ce tome au précédent, le rythme y est plus soutenu et il se passe beaucoup plus de choses. J’ai donc hâte de lire la suite.
En bref : à lire avec un mouchoir à la main pour essuyer ses larmes.
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April 21, 2013Un histoire à la Dickens en encore plus violent et tortueux....
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews