Titus Awakes

May 30, 2011
Gilmore, Peake's widow, has expanded a handful of pages written by her husband into a full-length sequel to Peake's celebrated Gormenghast trilogy (published between 1946 and 1959), though it differs considerably from the original books. Titus Groan leaves the grotesquerie of Gormenghast and tries to make his way in a world far more like ours. Titus struggles to connect to the mute, nameless individuals he meets; when he makes love to a woman and she becomes pregnant, he feels only a sense of being trapped, and after the child is stillborn, he moves on. Once Titus encounters chatty Ruth Saxon, he begins to feel more comfortable and embarks on a journey that leads to a startling revelation. The tale is thin, and Peake's fans will likely be disappointed by Gilmore's considerably different style and focus.