Wednesday, July 03, 2013

New Patrick Harpur Novel

I've been away for a month, and have returned to find that Patrick Harpur's new book The Savoy Truffle is just out from Skylight Press. The book, a novel, is black comedy about life in Surrey in the early 1960s (where the author apparently grew up). The title is, of course, a nod to the Beatles' song, and in a recent email, Patrick told me remembers seeing John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls often zipping past their house at odd hours. 

Very different territory from Patrick's early novels, the most well-known of which is Mercurius: The Marriage of Heaven and Earth (one of the best books I've ever read on the subject of alchemy), but the earlier The Serpent's Circle (a thriller about returned Cathars intent on revenge) and The Rapture (good review here), are also well worth seeking out. 

And of course, there are the three non-fiction books, which form a loose trilogy, Daimonic Reality, The Philosopher's Secret Fire and The Complete Guide to the Soul (The Secret Tradition of the Soul in the US).

If you like The Savoy Truffle, I strongly recommend you read everything else. (Heck, why not even search out Timetable of Technology!)


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