Reviewed on Richard & Judy's Book Club 2009 on Wednesday 4 February.

A cleverly told debut novel. The narrator of the story is an attractive man who has been horrifically burned in a car crash. While in hospital a mysterious woman visits him claiming to have been his lover 700 years ago. Is she delusional or is what she is telling him possible? A refreshingly original story, well written and guaranteed to keep you guessing.

Synopsis

The nameless and beautiful narrator of The Gargoyle is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and wakes up in a burns ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned. His life is over – he is now a monster. But in fact it is only just beginning. One day, Marianne Engel, a wild and compelling sculptress of gargoyles, enters his life and tells him that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly burned mercenary and she was a nun and a scribe who nursed him back to health in the famed monastery of Engelthal. As she spins her tale, Scheherazade fashion, and relates equally mesmerising stories of deathless love in Japan, Greenland, Italy and England, he finds himself drawn back to life – and, finally, to love.

Reviews

'Mixing romance, classic allusion and reality, Davidson's debut is a bravura performance.'
**** Marie Claire

'Compulsively readable . . . the pages almost turn themselves.' Metro

'Wildly imaginative . . . Bound to be an international bestseller.' Observer

About the Author

Andrew Davidson was born in Manitoba, and graduated in 1995 with a BA in English Literature from the University of British Columbia. He has worked as a teacher of English in Japan, where he has lived on and off, and as a writer of English lessons for Japanese websites. The Gargoyle is his first book. He lives in Manitoba, Canada. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation