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William, the Seventh Earl of Upton,is dying. His grandson, Seabold,has given him a journal in which theold man—unwillingly at first, but soonwith a strange compulsion—begins torecord the last months of his time onearth. But a daily account of life atUpton Hall, the decaying estate in whichthis late-Victorian lord has spent hisentire life, is quickly overtaken by violent recollections of William's childhood, a past he has heretofore managedto repress, as well as even stranger intimations of the future, of ourselves, thereaders, chancing upon this documentsome hundred years later, and of thepredicaments we find ourselves in today.
These three strands, past, present, andfuture, are braided together as ourunlikely hero speaks to both himself andto the not-yet-living, finally seeing hislife whole and extracting from it the lessons he has learned, lessons learned forour benefit as well as his own.
Time Among the Dead conjures up thelost world of the English countryside,with its eccentric aristocracy, stolid tenantfarmers, and striving middle class.Romantic love and a mystical appreciation of nature vie with the gloom of familysecrets and the growing apprehension thata time, a way of life, is passing irrevocably away. A figure by turns tragic andscreamingly funny, William proves to be asage guide, reminding us that the humancondition changes little over the years. Bythe end, it is unclear who has visitedwhom, only that we have made—andlost—a friend.
“Time Among the Dead is well-honed, dark, challenging literature.” –New York Journal of Books
THOMAS RAYFIEL is the author ofseveral novels, including The Eve Trilogy:Colony Girl (a Los Angeles Times NotableBook of the Year), Eve in the City, andParallel Play.
Price: $26.00
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