Escher's Castle (Paperback)

Escher's Castle is a unique thriller in the way it pulls the reader inside what seems to be a straight plot, and leaves him to follow the story through the unravelling personalities of the various characters; witnessing the way their emotions evolve as the complications arise. The novel's clever structure forms a puzzle, and challenges the reader not only to solve the mystery, but also to question the fragility of his own relationships. A group of six close friends leave their perfect world in London to spend a weekend in a castle in Kent. The innovative narrative style with different intertwined perspectives presents us the characters' psyche and what they make of their friends. The reader is dragged into the heart of the coterie, only to witness its metamorphosis into a weekend of infidelity and murder. The multi-layered story also serves as a metaphor for modern British society, trapped between its dual self-portrait of a glorious Victorian nation with polite gentlemen, and a modern society with it's hooligans, widespread alcoholism and a cosmopolitan mix that is diluting what we call British. The critique is subliminal and with ample passages of humour that make the characters come alive to show that the British are less refined than we like to think. Dutch painter M. C. Escher is famous for developing his unique style of playing with perspectives that fool the eyes of the spectator. Observing one of his paintings, you're aware that your eyes are being fooled, but you can't figure out how. Translating the painter's technique into words, Escher's Castle is the written response to Escher's claim that "painting is the art of deceit." Upon reading the last page of this novel, the reader will come to understand that writing is too. TAGLINE: Spending a weekend in an English castle is a great way to know your friends. And to loose them... "In fact, it wasn't a castle and it wasn't Escher's. It was his wife's, like almost everything else in that house. But both of them had agreed to call it his because, phonetically, it was more... appropriate. More in tune with the reality that Laura and her husband wanted to implant in their lives. And that mirage was the cornerstone of the bizarre and unhappy events of which you're about to learn..."