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A Novel
by Clare Cavenagh
A dark and utterly original literary horror debut, following a priest whose bloodthirsty life has extended far longer than any mere human's—and is upended when a stranger comes to town.
Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode Island. For many decades now, what little human contact he's allowed himself has been brief, frenzied and bloody, and has always ended in a shallow grave in his cellar. There's a name for what he is, but he prefers not to use it: it is simple enough that he has his needs, and that when they become unbearable, he fulfils them. In his long and lonely life, he has met only one other like him—the woman he still yearns for, the one who made him what he is.
Then a girl arrives, searching for him. She has his last name, and bears an uncanny resemblance to that woman, awakening memories Tillinghast had long suppressed; the connection he feels for her is immediate and overwhelming. She's also sick, very sick, with symptoms Tillinghast recognizes all too well...and only he knows how to cure her.
Inspired by the real events of the New England vampire panic of the nineteenth century, Tillinghast is a novel to sink your teeth into: at once a gripping, atmospheric horror that turns the classic monster narrative on its head; a literary work of exceptional prose about giving into—or resisting—our impulses; and a remarkably moving father-daughter story that will leave you unexpectedly hopeful—and rooting, despite your every instinct, for the killers.
"A sophisticated take on the vampire genre...Dripping in lush gothic atmosphere, this understated, slow-burning literary horror novel is sure to win fans." —Publishers Weekly
"[A] dark debut...Cavenagh's novel reads like 19th-century gothic fiction in the all the best ways, drawing the reader into Tillinghast's perspective while projecting a suffocating atmosphere...[The] characters are unique and the voice inventive. An original, sinister tale." —Kirkus Reviews
"A somber hymn of loneliness, of ancient wounds still tender, raw, and healing, of an insatiable, eternal yearning. Tillinghast is a soft chant in the dark—a tone poem etched in blood, agony, and utter cruelty. Lyrical and devastating, this remarkably heartfelt debut filled me with the same intense emotion I felt when I first watched Park Chan-wook's Thirst or read Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite for the very first time." —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
"Deliciously unsettling. Clare Cavenagh weaves a gothic magic through the pages, evoking Shirley Jackson-esque horror. Tillinghast examines the fine line between what is human and what is not and elicits a dread that leaves you unable to look away. A book that will stay with you long after you've finished turning the pages." —Ahana Virdi, author of Sour Fruit
This information about Tillinghast was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Clare Cavenagh spent her childhood in Erica, Australia, and her adolescence in Fribourg, Switzerland. She read English and the renaissance literature at the University of Cambridge, and now lives in London where she works as a copywriter. Her short fiction and criticism have been published in Editions L'Hèbe, Cambridge Quarterly and Eucalyptus Lit. Tillinghast is her first novel.
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