by Peter Benson
Turold had promised one thing and Odo had promised trouble, but the Bishop is a different man now, and in retreat, in Rouen. His room is small, with a small window, a crucifix on the wall and a benched desk. He wears a monk’s habit, his ambition is not dead, but sleeping. His hanging decorates his hall, but the hall is locked, no one sees it. Sunlight does not fade the wool, and the linen will be as fresh as the day it was drawn from Ermenburga’s stock.
Linen.
Forest.
Walls.
Pigeon.
Distance is only miles, and as the sun rises, so there is no real distance between men and women, only faithless acts. I can speak but I cannot talk.
‘I do not have to work today,’ said Martha.
Why not?
‘And I have some cheese.’
I can smell it.
‘Do you want some?’
Yes.
‘How much?’
A lot.
‘Bread?’
No.
Martha cut me some cheese. It smelt of old water. A pigeon came to the window and sat on the ledge to watch us. It was nesting weather.
Also available by Peter Benson
Peter Benson’s new novel
OUT IN AUGUST 2012
David Morris lives the quiet life of a book-valuer for a London auction house, travelling every day by omnibus to his office in the Strand. When he is asked to make a trip to rural Somerset to value the library of the recently deceased Lord Buff-Orpington, the sense of trepidation he feels as he heads into the country is confirmed the moment he reaches his destination, the dark and impoverished village of Ashbrittle. These feelings turn to dread when he meets the enigmatic Professor Richard Hunt and catches a glimpse of a screaming woman he keeps prisoner in his house.
Peter Benson’s new novel is a slick gothic tale in the English tradition, a murder mystery, a reflection on the works of the masters of the French Enlightenment and a tour of Edwardian England. More than this, it is a work of atmosphere and unease which creates a world of inhuman anxiety and suspense.
978-1-84688-206-7 • 250 pp. • £14.99
Winner of the Encore Award, a trenchant critique of modern civilization, describing how one family’s tropical heaven becomes hell.
978-1-84688-192-3
144 pp. • £8.99
Winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize, a lyrical portrait of the landscape of the Somerset Levels and a touching evocation of first love.
978-1-84688-191-6
160 pp. • £8.99
A beguiling and poignant novel about the fulfilment of dreams, the affirmation of life and finding love in unexpected places.
978-1-84688-197-8
176 pp. • £8.99
A compelling tale of surfing and coming of age, and an intense examination of a young man’s struggle to establish his identity.
978-1-84688-195-4
192 pp. • £8.99
The gripping tale of a quiet and solitary private detective whose uneventful life world spirals into a circle of chaos and death.
978-1-84688-196-1
192 pp. • £8.99
Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, a novel exploring the evolution of an unlikely relationship, in a beautiful countryside setting.
978-1-84688-193-0
144 pp. • £8.99
