Bezill

by John Symonds, Phil Baker (Introduction)

Geoffrey Pellerin travels to a remote English mansion, Bezill Tower, to serve as tutor to the boy of the house, young Herbert. The previous tutor departed under mysterious circumstances, but that is far from the only strangeness at Bezill. Herbert's mother, Mrs Shakeshaft, is passionately fond of blood sports, and her odd companion, Mr Gayfere, has a curious interest in flagellation. Then there's the locked tower room, said to contain the belongings of Herbert's aunt, who now resides screaming in a mental asylum. But perhaps strangest of all is Herbert himself, and as Pellerin settles into his new life among the mysteries and secrets of Bezill Tower, he may soon find that he has taken on more than he bargained for.

Long out-of-print, the Gothic fantasy Bezill (1962) is a rediscovered gem by John Symonds (1914-2006), who is best remembered as the biographer of the occultist Aleister Crowley. This reissue features the original jacket illustration by legendary British dust jacket artist Val Biro and a new introduction by Phil Baker.

Genres: Gothic, Fantasy, Contemporary, British Literature, Fiction, Horror

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Not to be mistaken for John Addington Symonds

John Symonds (12 March 1914, Battersea, London – 21 October 2006) was an English novelist, biographer, playwright and writer of children's books.

At the age of sixteen he moved to London and began educating himself by spending long hours in the reading room of the British Museum. A partial reconciliation with his father resulted in the latter funding research work that John Symonds would later mine for his own novels later in life.

His first job was at Hulton Press, working as a journalist on Picture Post and during this period he became friends with Dylan Thomas and Stephen Spender. Being exempted from military service, he edited 'Lilliput' magazine during which time he briefly married Hedwig Feuerstein.

In 1945 he married Renata Israel, and the following year (1946) he published his first novel, William Waste. This was followed in 1955 by The Lady in the Tower, and, in 1957, by another love story, A Girl Among Poets, which won praise from Sir John Betjeman, who wrote of the author's "gift for describing farcical situations".

Symonds met the infamous occultist and founder of the Thelemite religion, Aleister Crowley in 1946, the year before Crowley's death. Crowley's will left the copyright of his works to his unincorporated magical society, the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and made him Crowley's literary executor, though Crowley's legal status as an undischarged bankrupt meant that the copyrights actually ended up in receivership. At first fascinated by Crowley, Symonds became increasingly critical of his ideas and manners, in particular the use of drugs and sex. Along with one of Crowley's disciples, Kenneth Grant, Symonds edited and republished Crowley's autobiography and a number of his other works. Further to this, he authored four biographical works of his own: The Great Beast (1952), The Magic of Aleister Crowley (1958), The King of the Shadow Realm (1989) and The Beast 666 (1997). Due to his somewhat negative attitude to Crowley in these works, there were many involved in Thelema and ceremonial magic who were themselves critical of Symonds, including Israel Regardie, who called him "that most hostile biographer." Nonetheless, his significance in keeping Crowley's legacy alive has also been recognised, and it has been noted that "Regardless of his reception, it is no exagerration to state that without the publication efforts of Symonds (and Grant) Crowley could easily have been a forgotten figure by the 1970s."

He found his widest (largest) audience in the writing of children's books. In 'The Magic Currant Bun', (1953), a boy chases a magic bun, which came out of an oven, through the streets of Paris He enjoyed the bun very much when he caught it in his mouth. His feline magical fantasy, Isle of Cats (illustrated by Gerard Hoffnung), followed in 1955. Lottie (1957), is the story of a talking doll and dog. Edward Ardizzone was the illustrator for this book and Elfrida and the Pig (1959), a story about little girl who is not allowed to play with dolls until she finished her punishment which was to trim her parent's bushes.

After a period of writing children's books Symonds returned to biographies in 1959 with Madame Blavatsky, Medium and Magician, a life of the famous Theosophist. This was followed in 1961 with Thomas Brown and the Angels: A Study in Enthusiasm, about the life of a Methodist who becomes involved with the Shakers.

Novels followed, beginning with William Waste (1947), The Lady in the Tower (1955), A girl among poets (1957), then a gothic fantasy, Bezill (1962), then Light Over Water (1963), in which a journalist researches into the world of the occult. The subject of With a View on the Palace (1966) is a Russian film director who becomes obsessed with the Royal Family to the point of hiring an apartment near Buckingham Palace

Reviews

[Valancourt Books]

Now available from Valancourt Books.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this, but found it significantly not as advertised. Even if I tilt my head, squint and think very hard, it’s still difficult to perceive this book as a ‘gothic fantasy’. Bezill follows an inept young tutor working at the country house of the title; he struggles to connect with his solemn pupil, Herbert, while maintaining infatuations with both Herbert’s mother and a taciturn maid. Yes, there’s a big old house, and an off-limits room in the tower, and oddball characters with disturbing hobbies. But the blurb makes all these things sound sinister when, in the book, they are invariably positioned as humorous. The story is stuffed full of innuendos and never truly feels serious. It’s very funny at points – though I started to find the humour too samey after a while – but I think I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d known it was a comedy going in. (Also, upon finishing it I was extremely relieved to realise I’m unlikely to come across the phrase ‘as cold as an ice lolly’ ever again.)

[John Brownlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Symond’s Freudian novel Bezill is a real gothic obscurity of manners and subtext, which just happens to feature the worst tutor of all time. I knew nothing going in, and it wasn’t at all what I expected, but I devoured it nonetheless.

[thebookpinguin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sometimes it's best to leave those revolutionary books on sexual education in the past where they played their brilliant role.
Yes, there are gothic aspects in there that are turned into jokes and an entertaining British humour, but don't expect any really daunting gothic manor as hinted in the synopsis (except if you're afraid of people whipping themselves) (like literally)

[Scott Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected this to go in a certain direction and it surprised me.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe this was scandalous when it was published in 1962, but for my 2024 brain it was a confusing mess. A few interesting things were brought up and then never explored (ummm hello, Beatrice?), but overall this book was as cold as an ice lolly.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so, I have just come to the end of a lot of nine novels from the remarkable publisher known as Valancourt Books. And what an ennead they were! In chronological order: Ernest G. Henham's "Tenebrae" (1898), a tale of fratricide, guilt, madness,,,and giant spiders; R.C. Ashby's "He Arrived at Dusk" (1933), which tells of the ghost of a Roman centurion haunting modern-day Northumberland; G.S. Marlowe's "I Am Your Brother" (1935), in which we encounter a mutant sibling who may (or may not) be imaginary; Frank Baker's "The Birds" (1936), an avian apocalyptic affair; J.U. Nicolson's "Fingers of Fear" (1937), which incorporates murders, ghosts, vampires and insanity into its mind-boggling story line; Oliver Onions' "The Hand of Kornelius Voyt: (1939), in which a deaf/mute man of science harbors special plans for his young ward; Franklin Gregory's "The White Wolf" (1941), a tale of lycanthropy in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside; Russell Thorndike's "The Master of the Macabre" (1947), an anthology-horror novel that contains no fewer than a dozen startling stories; and now, finally, John Symonds' "Bezill," a novel that is perhaps the most unusual item in this unusual group, for the simple reason that it is so very mundane.

"Bezill" was originally released in 1962 as a hardcover volume by the British publisher Unicorn Press, and featuring cover art by the famed Hungarian author and illustrator Val Biro. The book would then go OOPs (out of prints) for no fewer than 60 years, till Valancourt opted to resurrect it in 2022, and sporting that same Val Biro artwork on the front cover. As for the book's author, Symonds was born in London in 1914 and found fame as a playwright, children's book author, novelist and biographer. Today, he is probably best remembered for the four (!) biographies that he wrote dealing with the British occultist Aleister Crowley, aka "The Wickedest Man in the World." Symonds, happily, enjoyed a nice long life, ultimately passing away in 2006, at age 92.

Now, as for this 1962 novel of his, it introduces the reader to one Geoffrey Pellerin, a 23-year-old student of classical literature who, when we first encounter him, is traveling by rail to his new post in some unnamed eastern British county. Pellerin, we suspect, is leaving London not so much to start his new job as a tutor as to escape the smothering attentions of his would-be fiancée, Gladys Pasquier. While en route to his destination, Bezill Tower--and don't ask me if "Bezill" is pronounced "BEH-zill" or "BEE-zill"; there is just no way to know, and no reference is ever made to the unusual name--in (the fictitious town of) Windwood, Pellerin chances to meet the former tutor, Henry Chauncy, who had been sacked for unbecoming conduct, and who warns Geoffrey of the unusual inmates whom he is about to encounter. And indeed, it really is quite an oddball bunch that the new tutor finds waiting for him. Herbert Shakeshaft, his 15-year-old pupil, is an innocent epileptic who looks to be about half his actual age. His mother, the widowed Alice Shakeshaft, despite being in her 30s, is aloof, sexless, and an avid enthusiast of foxhunting and similar blood sports; she's "as cold as an ice lolly," as Pellerin thinks of her at least half a dozen times over the course of the book. And then there's the fat, bald Mr. Gayfere, who also lives at Bezill Tower and whose exact relationship with the family is at first blush a mysterious one. Not to mention Wales, the butler who has been pilfering wine bottles from the cellar, and Beatrice, the black maid from exotic St. Helena, with whom the previous tutor had fallen into disgrace.

As the autumn months proceed, Pellerin finds himself becoming quite attached to his sweet young student, while he also finds himself becoming inexplicably attracted to Mrs. Shakeshaft, despite the fact that he is repelled by her love of hunting and her standoffish ways. He also becomes intrigued by some of the house's mysteries, especially the locked tower in which supposedly reside the belongings of Herbert's deceased father, as well as the effects of his aunt, who is currently locked away in a mental institution. Ultimately, Mrs. Shakeshaft tells Pellerin that the lessons he is giving Herbert in Latin and the classical arts are not the only subjects that she wishes to be included in her son's syllabus; indeed, she now proposes that Pellerin give his young ward a thorough initiation into the facts of life...the birds and the bees, as it were. Thus, the new tutor proposes a tour of Europe for himself and his young student, leading to the two winding up at a series of brothels in Lisbon, of all places. But many surprises await the pair upon their return to Bezill Tower....

In Valancourt's rather extensive catalog, "Bezill" is listed in the "Vintage Thrills and Chills" section, which I suppose is as good a place as any for such an unclassifiable book as this one. Dating from 1962 as it does, however, the novel really isn't all that vintage--it is one of the most recent books in that particular section--and to be quite honest, really doesn't have anything to boast in the nature of thrills and chills, either. On this edition's back cover, "Bezill" is also said to be a "Gothic fantasy"; is that descriptor closer to the mark? Well, let's take a look. The book does, I suppose, contain some Gothic elements, but they are decidedly minimal, and limited to the classic setup of a tutor arriving at a mysterious household, a locked tower, and a woman confined in an insane asylum. As for the fantasy elements, other than the fictitious town of Windwood, nothing is to be found in Symonds' book that could not be encountered in everyday life. Still, the book is decidedly weird, and it is the gradual accretion of strange details that makes the novel feel like such a bizarre experience.

Take, for instance, the odd names of the main characters, and throw in Mr. Skrymsher and Mr. Fulalove (two neighbors of Bezill Tower) in addition. Stir in the hunting mania of Mrs. Shakeshaft, and the talk of medicinal whipping (!) from Gayfere. Blend with a screech owl that is said to be a harbinger of death, and toss with one of the characters committing suicide, his/her body (I'm trying to be coy here) later found in a lovely swan pond. Add the borderline surrealistic experiences of Pellerin and Herbert at those Lisbon bordellos (including an unlikely encounter with Chauncy, of all people, at one of them). And, oh...throw in the strangeness of Pellerin falling in love with his pupil's mother, despite all the negative things that he thinks about her, and despite the fact that he feels Gladys would make the perfect wife for him. And more...so much more. To be fair, with just a few minor changes--the deletion of a reference to television, and the subtraction of the given year 1952, when Herbert is said to have turned 4--"Bezill" could easily have been presented as a period piece, and thus more convincing as a genuine Gothic. What we have here, rather, is something of an oddball modern story..."not that there's anything wrong with that."

Actually, more than anything else, the book's main thrust (or perhaps I should instead say "concern"?) is good old-fashioned sex...a major driver for all the participants here. Thus, Pellerin is both attracted to and repelled by both Gladys and by Alice Shakeshaft, as well as turned on by Beatrice. Chauncy had been given the sack because of his, uh, activities in the sack, while Beatrice herself is hiding her own sex-related secret. Young Herbert ultimately reveals to his tutor his past fumbling attempts with the opposite sex, while Gayfere beseeches Pellerin to ask Gladys' father, an herbalist, for a concoction that might be deemed a 1962 substitute for...let's say Viagra. And then there's the apparently sexless Mrs. Shakeshaft, whose icy exterior conceals a big ol' mess in her past. So yes, it is not only Herbert whose sexual problems this novel has as its focus. While reading "Bezill," you might wonder to yourself what the point of the book is; what is Symonds getting at, anyway, besides the atmospheric strangeness? Fortunately, the novel does come together in a very big way toward its very end, when Pellerin finally manages to enter that locked tower and discover the answers to some of the household's puzzles. Alice's being "as cold as an ice lolly" is finally understood, and the revelations in this section do go far in justifying much of the apparent pointlessness that had come before.

If I haven't made it sufficiently clear, I did rather like "Bezill." It's different, certainly unusual, and kept me consistently wondering where it was going next. At a mere 146 pages, the novel is assuredly concise, and its short chapters compel the reader to go on, gobbling down each one in turn like a bonbon. Pellerin is a wholly likeable chap, although he seems a tad too mature and worldly wise for someone who is only 23, and Herbert is a sweet kid who we ultimately come to care for a lot. The farewell between the two at the novel's tail end is a little sad and touching, as well. Symonds employs a very simple style of writing here--one can detect the hand of the children's author--which makes it all the more striking when the subjects of sex and suicide crop up. His book is also casually cultivated, with numerous references to famous writers (Andre Gide, D. H. Lawrence, Norman Douglas, Sophie von La Roche, Walter Pater, John Ruskin) and painters (George Morland, Richard Parkes Bonington, John Constable, Eugene Delacroix). It really is something of a sui generis affair, and those readers who go in expecting a straightforward Gothic thriller will surely be surprised (as was I) or disappointed (which, fortunately, I was not).

So call it what you will: a Gothic fantasy, a vintage chiller, a mood piece, a character study, or simply a modern-day English drama. Despite its brevity precluding any of its characters being presented with anything approaching great depth, the book does succeed in what it sets out to do, and its unusual aura persists with the reader for days after the final page is turned. It was not what I was expecting, but I don't regret having read it. I see now that John Symonds has written some other interesting-sounding novels; for example, "Light Over Water" (1963), which deals with the occult, as well as a fantasy from 1967 entitled "The Stuffed Dog." I would love to have a chance to purchase these items, and it is for such obscure and heretofore out-of-print works such as these that enterprising publishers such as Valancourt Books are so invaluable today....

(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for readers of unusual fare such as this....)

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very misleading synopsis. I had been expecting a good old-fashioned gothic novel, instead I got perverted male blathering.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting reissue from Valancourt from a forgotten novel of 1962. It crosses severeal genres, and doesn't quite belong to any.

Geoffrey Pellerin travels to an English mansion, Bezill Tower, deep in the countryside, to serve as tutor to a sickly 15 year old epileptic, Herbert. The previous tutor departed under mysterious circumstances, but that more strange things await Pellerin on his arrival.

Herbert's widowed mother, Mrs Shakeshaft, is passionately fond of blood sports, and her peculiar companion, Mr Gayfere, has a curious interest in flagellation. There's a locked room in the tower, said to contain the belongings of Herbert's aunt, who now resides screaming in a mental asylum.
Herbert himself is far from a normal boy, though he finds a mentor in Pellerin.
As things steadily progress amongst the eccentricities, Herbert's distant mother charges Pellerin with another task, to explain to Hector the facts of life.

Is it a fantasy, as its previews suggest? I suppose so, but in a very small part only, in the same way that it is a ghost story, or a piece of horror. But to put that label on it does it a disservice. It would be misguided to embark on this book believing it to be that.

Though set in the early 1960s, the mansion that Pellerin tutors at seems set in a time much earlier than that, in the culture and attitudes of its inhabitants, and in its descriptions. As if as a reminder that it actually isn't, Symonds slips in the mention of a TV at one time.

There's a wonderful gothic atmosphere to the piece as a whole, and the fact that it all plays out without any criminal event, or scare, is beside the point, it entertains hugely, and it’s often darkly humorous. The few paragraphs that involve a supposed ghost seem to be a clever misdirection by Symonds, and its not the only one.

The book is a really good example of what Valancourt do so well, in the reissuing of a book that is very likely to be more appreciated now than it was when it was released.

[Lene Kretschz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Atmospheric and wryly funny strange story with a distinct gothic feel. Symonds is a master of innuendo and absurdly apt names and much of this little tale provokes knowing snickers as much as frissons of fear, but there is genuine unease here and a surprisingly touching relationship between master and pupil. Slight but well worth reading.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slight, but very enjoyable book due to its dark humor. I was laughing out loud through most of the book, enjoying the daft narrator and his outrageous thoughts on the outrageous things going on at Bezill. At the same time, there is a tender quality to the book, with much sympathy directed towards Herbert. I’m glad Valancourt Books has resurrected this book from being out of print.

[Ryan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting is a castle so clearly it's a gothic 🙄

Even if the book wasn't what I anticipated I still found the characters to be very funny, and I liked the dynamic between tutor and pupil. Almost written more as a family-drama sorta novel.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars

[Daniel Stainback]

Super dull, stupid plot, and basically pointless.

[Rebecca Simich · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5✨

[Jared Helms · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very odd read. I consumed it quickly as the writing style and delivery were catchy and left you wanting more, constantly feeling like it was leading to something grand. It never did.