The Holy Sinner

THE BOOK: An epic arch sinfulness, The Holy Sinner is one of Thomas Mann's great works. From the incestuous union of the two beautiful children of the Duke Grimald of Flanders a boy is borrn. Left to die at sea, the child is eventually rescued and brought up in holiness on the channel islands. Only after marrying his mother does the child come to realise the unwitting - and witting - extent of his crime against nature.