The Towers of Trebizond: A Novel

by Rose Macaulay

Overview

Hailed as "an utter delight, the most brilliant witty and charming book I have read since I can't remember when" by The New York Times when it was originally published in 1956, Rose Macaulay's The Towers of Trebizond tells the gleefully absurd story of Aunt Dot, Father Chantry-Pigg, Aunt Dot's deranged camel, and our narrator, Laurie, who are traveling from Istanbul to legendary Trebizond on a convoluted mission. Along the way they will encounter spies, a Greek sorcerer, a precocious ape, and Billy Graham with a busload of evangelists. Part travelogue, part comedy, it is also a meditation on love, faith, doubt, and the difficulties, moral and intellectual, of being a Christian in the modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374533632
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	10/30/2012
Series:	FSG Classics
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	260,365
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Rose Macaulay (1881-1958), born in Rugby and educated at Oxford, was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1958. One of the most popular satirical novelists of her day, Told by an Idiot, first published in 1923, is her panoramic tour de force, revealing, through the eyes of the extraordinary Garden family, the social, political and religious fortunes of England from the age of Victoria to the 1920s.

Editorial Reviews

"Macaulay’s meticulous, understated storytelling traces the hairline crack between laughter and tears, finds grand universals in ordinary foibles, and speaks, without blush or wink, of sin and repentance."—Paste Magazine

"A small miracle of a novel."—Salon

"It is an extraordinary novel, being not just a witty and lyrically written account of the journey of a heart and soul, but also, a beguiling history lesson, a masterclass in acute social observation, and a remarkable polemic on female emancipation and religious sectarianism."—The Independent

From the Publisher

Clare Corbett's silvery, refined tone and light, quick delivery suit this best known of English novelist Rose Macaulay's books. Published in 1956, it begins, "'Take my camel, dear,'" said my Aunt Dot as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass." As an eclectic group, including Aunt Dot, an Anglican clergyman, Father Chantry-Pigg, and the narrator, Laurie, travel from Istanbul to Trebizond, they have adventures and encounter bemusing locals. Corbett's narrative voice--perky, naïve, and enthusiastic--captures Laurie's Girl Guide approach to the journey. And her lovely articulation keeps listeners on track through the occasionally long discussions of Anglicanism high and low. The story's ample wit derives from the adventurers' complete lack of self-awareness, which Corbett plays up beautifully. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

JULY 2024 - AudioFile