Helpful Score: 4
Dr. Haggard's Disease is a gripping novel about forbidden and tragic love. This is a very dark and haunting story that will leave you with feelings of despair and anguish. I was totally engrossed in the story as I followed every catastrophic step that Dr. Haggard took; living his miseries with him. The ending only proves what a broken heart can do to the human mind.
McGrath, one of the foremost practitioners of the "new gothic," has written a stormy tale of obsession. Set in Britain on the eve of World War II, it involves
Edward Haggard, a young doctor in a London hospital, who falls for Fanny Ratcliff, the wife of an older physician. The attraction is mutual, and they begin
a brief, passionate affair. After a calamitous run-in with the husband, Haggard leaves London, buying a crumbling seaside mansion and the practice of a
retiring doctor. His feelings for the now-deceased Fanny grow to unbearable intensity several years later after a visit by her son, a young fighter pilot,
and his obsession takes a bizarre erotic twist. An example of the psychological side of the gothic, this is a haunting portrayal of a man broken by passion.
Edward Haggard, a young doctor in a London hospital, who falls for Fanny Ratcliff, the wife of an older physician. The attraction is mutual, and they begin
a brief, passionate affair. After a calamitous run-in with the husband, Haggard leaves London, buying a crumbling seaside mansion and the practice of a
retiring doctor. His feelings for the now-deceased Fanny grow to unbearable intensity several years later after a visit by her son, a young fighter pilot,
and his obsession takes a bizarre erotic twist. An example of the psychological side of the gothic, this is a haunting portrayal of a man broken by passion.
Brilliant Gothic novel, luscious language & gripping story. the ending is a doozy. fantastic book.
