A mysterious epidemic strikes an English village in this surreal, irresistible, and darkly funny Barbara Comyns classic, hailed as an "overlooked small masterpiece" (The Rumpus).

"So funny, so exact, so twisted." -- PBS

This is the story of the Willoweed family and the English village in which they live. It begins mid-flood, ducks swimming in the drawing-room windows, "quacking their approval" as they sail around the room. "What about my rose beds?" demands Grandmother Willoweed. Her son shouts down her ear-trumpet that the garden is submerged, dead animals everywhere, she will be lucky to get a bunch.

Then the miller drowns himself... then the butcher slits his throat... and a series of gruesome deaths plagues the villagers. The newspaper asks, "Who will be smitten by this fatal madness next?"

Through it all, Comyns' unique voice weaves a text as wonderful as it is horrible, as beautiful as it is cruel. Originally published in England in 1954, this "overlooked small masterpiece" is a twisted, tragicomic gem.

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• Literature & FictionLiterary FictionBritish & Irish
• Literature & FictionClassicsClassics

• Publication Date: November 1, 2010
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 133 Pages
• File Size: 28 KB