Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 10/24/2024 + 1223 more book reviews

This was a very unusual gothic novel by McGrath. I read one other book by him several years ago, ASYLUM, which I thought was an interesting look at the criminally insane. In Grotesque, the story is narrated by Sir Hugo Coal who has been paralyzed and is confined to a wheelchair. Hugo is an amateur paleontologist who discovered a dinosaur in Africa that he feels is the predecessor to modern birds. But will the scientific community agree with his theory? Hugo does his scientific work related to the dinosaur in the barn and his family lives in a decaying English manor house called Crook. Hugo believes his butler, Fledge, is out to get him and take over as master of the manor. So is Fledge getting intimate with Hugo's wife? And then what happened to Sidney Giblet, who was the intended to Hugo's daughter. He has disappeared and who is to blame when his bones turn up? Is it Fledge? And how does this relate to Hugo's pig farm and his gardener/pig farmer who Hugo met in Africa? Hugo watches all this from his wheelchair but how reliable is his narrative?

This was enjoyable overall blending a gothic mystery with a comedy of morals. Hugo's narrative is one of the best examples I have read of an unreliable narrator. I have a couple of other books by McGrath that I will look forward to reading.

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