The High Place: A Comedy of Disenchantment (1923) is a novel by James
Branch Cabell. Set in a world where history and fantasy collide, where a
lowly swineherd can rise to be Count of Poictesme, The High Place: A
Comedy of Disenchantment is one work in a series of novels, essays, and
poems known as the Biography of the Life of Manuel. Descended from a
line of such legendary heroes as Jurgen and Dom Manuel, Florian, Duke of
Puysange, is a relative disgrace to his family name. Known as a
dishonorable man, disloyal husband, and destructive ruler, Florian
harbors a secret desire. Since boyhood, when he first laid eyes on the
daughter of King Helmas, Florian has known that the only way he could
ever be happy would be through marriage to Melior. Unable to access the
mystical Forest of Acaire, however, he takes out his frustration on
friends and foes alike. When Janicot, a shadowy figure, offers Florian
his blessing, the Duke sets out for the castle of King Helmas without
regard to the details of their pact. Set in a fictionalized France of
the 13th century, The High Place: A Comedy of Disenchantment is a
captivating story of fantasy and adventure featuring a flawed hero whose
mythical world is not entirely different from our own. Cabell's work has
long been described as escapist, his novels and stories derided as
fantastic and obsessive recreations of a world lost long ago. To read
The High Place: A Comedy of Disenchantment, however, is to understand
that the issues therein--the struggle for power, the unspoken distance
between men and women--were vastly important not only at the time of its
publication, but in our own, divisive world. With a beautifully designed
cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of James
Branch Cabell's The High Place: A Comedy of Disenchantment is a
classic of fantasy and romance reimagined for modern readers.
