Malpertuis

ne of the most famous gothic/uncanny novels of 20th century French writing, Ray's work has been compared to the best of Lovecraft and Meyrink and has never been out of print since its first publication in 1943. The author was a man surrounded by as much mystery as the bizarre old mansion of Malpertuis where the insane and horrific events of this novel ineluctably unfold. Fellow writer, Thomas Owen, said of him: Jean Ray was a Gothic personality. He had about him a touch of the damned priest or the cathedral gargoyle.'