The Haunt
The Haunt by Audrey Lillian Barker, published by Virago in 1999, is a first edition novel comprising 185 pages. Set in the atmospheric backdrop of Cornwall, the story unfolds in a dilapidated hotel that serves as a refuge for individuals grappling with their own unexpressed fears and desires. The narrative introduces a diverse cast of characters, including an elderly couple seeking solace, a lonely child in need of companionship, and an eccentric painter facing personal turmoil.
Readers will find that The Haunt intricately explores the lives of these characters as their unique eccentricities are gradually unveiled. The setting, described as a decaying hotel nestled within the legendary Cornish great forest, adds depth to the themes of longing and connection. With a focus on the interplay between public opinion and personal experience, this novel delves into subjects such as censorship and the impact of comic books on children, providing a rich context for the characters’ journeys.
Official synopsis Publisher
Set in ‘old forest country’ on the tip of Cornwall, The Haunt is a seedy, dishevelled and decaying hotel, but like the forest itself, with the germ of the legendary Cornish great forest at its heart, The Haunt is a place that welcomes those with longings, with their own deep-seated, incommunicable fears. There is the elderly couple who have just moved to the country, there to find solace but in fact discovering love of a different kind. The child who is odd and needs a friend. The eccentric painter, the loner whose wife has left him.
With her precise, pithy use of language and clear sense of judgement, A. L.Barker’s THE HAUNT is a wholly original novel which picks up a clutch of characters and slowly reveals the very eccentricities that drive them.
‘She is a quietly excellent and very English writer, who believes in fatalism as others believe in action. She deserves to be read and read again.’ Anita Brookner
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