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Mervyn Peake has been acclaimed as an author of fantasy and as an illustrator, but as yet has received little attention from literary critics. This book is the first to analyse all of Peake's works of fiction, including his two picture story books and novella as well as the Gormenghast series and Mr Pye. Alice Mills pinpoints the fictional quirks that render Mervyn Peake such a memorable fantasy writer, examining his literary works from Jungian, Freudian, Kristevan and post-Jungian perspectives. Stuckness in the Fiction of Mervyn Peake will be of interest to fantasy lovers and students of fantasy as a genre, as well as those exploring the psychoanalysis of literary texts.

The works of Mervyn Peake have fascinated readers for sixty years. His Gormenghast sequence of novels – recently serialized to great acclaim by the BBC – stands as one of the great imaginative accomplishments of twentieth-century literature. In The Voice of the Heart, G. Peter Winnington, the world’s foremost expert on Peake, sets his subject’s fiction in context with the poetry, plays and book illustrations which are less well known. He traces recurrent motifs through Peake’s works (islands, animals, and loneliness, for example) and explores in detail Peake’s long-neglected play, The Wit to Woo. Through close readings of all these elements of Peake’s oeuvre, Winnington is ultimately able to offer unparalleled insight into one of British literature’s most vibrant imaginations.

The grotesque is the territory where reality and fantasy are intrinsically interwoven. In Mervyn Peake’s short story, ‘Danse Macabre’, the weird play of crossing the boundaries between life and death is enhanced by objects (here, clothes) developing a life of their own. The matter-of-fact tone of narration lulls the reader’s mounting anxiety, while maintaining a contradictory sense of repulsion and attraction as the story line proceeds. Objects taking on independent life and the fusion of organic and inorganic (characteristic motifs of the grotesque according to Kayser) are the two main elements in this tale, in which the clothes provide a most weird image of death.

The kingdom of Gormenghast rejoices when its ruler, Lord Sepulchrave , produces a son and heir: Titus, 77th Earl of Groan. However, scheming kitchen boy Steerpike himself dreams of taking power, and sets about driving Sepulchrave insane. He also seduces Titus' sister, Lady Fuchsia, planning to seize the kingdom through her. It seems that Steerpike cannot fail in his plans - only the timid Titus himself, young and inexperienced, stands in his way. Steerpike becomes a hero by rescuing the Groans from the burning library. Swelter dies in a fight with Flay, Lord Groan is pecked to death by owls and young Titus declared Earl.

The kingdom of Gormenghast rejoices when its ruler, Lord Sepulchrave , produces a son and heir: Titus, 77th Earl of Groan. However, scheming kitchen boy Steerpike himself dreams of taking power, and sets about driving Sepulchrave insane. He also seduces Titus' sister, Lady Fuchsia, planning to seize the kingdom through her. It seems that Steerpike cannot fail in his plans - only the timid Titus himself, young and inexperienced, stands in his way. The ancient Groan family finds itself coming under threat from Steerpike, a charming but ruthless kitchen boy.

The kingdom of Gormenghast rejoices when its ruler, Lord Sepulchrave , produces a son and heir: Titus, 77th Earl of Groan. However, scheming kitchen boy Steerpike himself dreams of taking power, and sets about driving Sepulchrave insane. He also seduces Titus' sister, Lady Fuchsia, planning to seize the kingdom through her. It seems that Steerpike cannot fail in his plans - only the timid Titus himself, young and inexperienced, stands in his way. Steerpike sets out to seduce Lady Fuchsia, fakes Clarice and Cora's deaths and kills Mrs Slagg. Titus escapes to the outside world but is punished. His hatred of Steerpike grows.

The kingdom of Gormenghast rejoices when its ruler, Lord Sepulchrave , produces a son and heir: Titus, 77th Earl of Groan. However, scheming kitchen boy Steerpike himself dreams of taking power, and sets about driving Sepulchrave insane. He also seduces Titus' sister, Lady Fuchsia, planning to seize the kingdom through her. It seems that Steerpike cannot fail in his plans - only the timid Titus himself, young and inexperienced, stands in his way. Steerpike embarks on a terrifying campaign of murder and destruction while closing in on the object of his desire, Lady Fuschia.

\"Mervyn Peake: My Eyes Mint Gold\" (the subtitle comes from one of [Mervyn Peake]'s poems) is splendidly organized and thoughtfully balanced. Its prose is fluent and penetrating. A generous helping of Peake's poetry--ranging from lyrical love poems to nonsense rhymes--is included. Best of all, the biography reproduces some 90-odd Peake drawings, doodles and illustrations to classics like \"Treasure Island\" and \"Bleak House,\" as well as Peake's own works. Many are utterly magical.