For more than three decades, Lucien -- one of the most notorious
characters in the history of the novel -- has haunted the imaginations
of readers around the world. Remarkably, the astounding protagonist of
Gabrielle Wittkop's lyrical 1972 novella, The Necrophiliac, has never
appeared in English until now.
This new translation introduces readers to a masterpiece of French
literature, striking not only for its astonishing subject matter but for
the poetic beauty of the late author's subtle, intricate writing.
Like the best writings of Edgar Allan Poe or Baudelaire, Wittkop's prose
goes far beyond mere gothic horror to explore the melancholy in the
loneliest depths of the human condition, forcing readers to confront
their own mortality with an unprecedented intimacy.