‘Compulsive reading . . . rich, strange, beautiful’ Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk
‘A strange, new and captivating look at a magical realm . . . Lavishly entertaining’ Independent
‘Enthralling . . . a literary feast’ Stylist
The world had forgotten Mr Crowe and his mysterious gifts. Until he killed the poet.
He lived a secluded life in the fading grandeur of his country estate. His companions were his faithful manservant and his ward, Clara, a silent, bookish girl who has gifts of her own.
Now Dr Chastern, the leader of a secret society, arrives at the estate to call Crowe to account and keep his powers in check. But it is Clara’s even greater gifts that he comes to covet most.
She must learn to use them quickly, if she is to save them all.
‘A strange, new and captivating look at a magical realm . . . Lavishly entertaining’ Independent
‘Enthralling . . . a literary feast’ Stylist
The world had forgotten Mr Crowe and his mysterious gifts. Until he killed the poet.
He lived a secluded life in the fading grandeur of his country estate. His companions were his faithful manservant and his ward, Clara, a silent, bookish girl who has gifts of her own.
Now Dr Chastern, the leader of a secret society, arrives at the estate to call Crowe to account and keep his powers in check. But it is Clara’s even greater gifts that he comes to covet most.
She must learn to use them quickly, if she is to save them all.
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Reviews
Strange and new and captivating
Sonorous, beautifully made, disquieting
Poetic and strange, this Gothic novel is a dark, elegant celebration of the power and beauty of words and the spells they weave.
I devoured this book and it kept me guessing right to the very end . . . Line by line, Paraic's writing contains some of the most beautifully turned phrasing I've read in a long while
Exquisite
Strange and beautiful - one of Stylist's Essential Reads for 2016
Wonderfully dark, magical
A fabulously assured, elegant Gothic-flavoured tale
[With much] in common with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ... a tale about magic and art, power and responsibility ... [that will] keep the reader enfolded
A peculiar and beautiful tale of art and magic
A charming, lyrical read even when tension is high. I admired the depth of O'Donnell's imagination, which allowed him to conjure up this enthralling tale . . . A literary feast
The Maker of Swans combines through-the-looking-glass enchantment with Nabokovian dexterity. O'Donnell has written a mesmerizing book whose prose absolutely soars
Dazzlingly inventive, compelling
The prose in O'Donnell's first novel is glorious, combining an ear for deep cadences of language with a phenomenal acuity of vision ... O'Donnell is clearly a major talent
A powerful thriller
Compulsive reading . . . rich, strange, beautiful
An oddly beautiful tale of magic and art, this reminded me of Alain-Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes
It would not be surprising if the public clamours for a second instalment of this vividly imagined and deeply pleasurable gothic fantasy - not to mention a film.