A Superior Spectre
by Angela Meyer
Description
Jeff is dying. Haunted by memories and grappling with the shame of his desires, he runs away to remote Scotland with a piece of experimental tech that allows him to enter the mind of someone in the past. Instructed to only use it three times, Jeff – self-indulgent, isolated and deteriorating – ignores this advice.
In the late 1860s, Leonora lives a contented life in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by nature, her hands and mind kept busy. Contemplating her future and the social conventions that bind her, a secret romantic friendship with the local laird is interrupted when her father sends her to stay with her aunt in Edinburgh – an intimidating, sooty city; the place where her mother perished. But Leonora’s ability to embrace her new life is shadowed by a dark presence that begins to lurk behind her eyes, and strange visions that bear no resemblance to anything she has ever seen or known…
A Superior Spectre is a highly accomplished debut novel about our capacity for curiosity, and our dangerous entitlement to it, and reminds us the scariest ghosts aren’t those that go bump in the night, but those that are born and create a place for themselves in the human soul.
More Information
Rights Information
Rights sold UK
Marketing Information
- Shortlisted for Scottish Saltire Book of the Year Award
- Shortlisted for Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction (2019)
- Shortlisted for Aurelias Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (2019)
- Shortlisted for MUD Literary Prize (2019)
- Shortlisted for ABIA Small Publisher Book of the Year (2019) Shortlisted for
- Australian Book Design Awards (2019)
Endorsements
‘A creepy, erotically-charged book you’ll read in a thrilling rush and then think about for months.’
EMILY MAGUIRE, AUTHOR OF AN ISOLATED INCIDENT
‘A wild and risky novel, artfully darting between two people separated by centuries and connected by… you’ll see.’
STEVEN AMSTERDAM, AUTHOR OF THINGS WE DIDN'T SEE COMING
‘Haunting and wonderfully surefooted – a vivid reminder of what fiction can do.’
PETER BISHOP
Reviews
‘This novel is weird in the best kind of way. Taking readers on a trip through time, space, and consciousness, A Superior Spectre is an unconventional story starring a flawed protagonist. Lush with the detail of its period settings in Scotland and beyond, this genre- and mind-bending piece of writing is utterly unique.’
READINGS PRIZE JUDGES
‘A Superior Spectre is an ambitious and curious venture, Meyer straddles historical drama and dystopian fiction, and yet manages to cross the divide fairly smoothly’
THUY ON, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
‘A brilliant, deeply unsettling work with the unapologetically feminist rage, passion and awareness of books such as The Natural Way of Things or Margaret Atwood’s seminal The Handmaid’s Tale.’
BOOKS+PUBLISHING
‘This is one of those rare books that penetrates deep into the reader’s most secret self. Read it and hold it close.’
THE SATURDAY PAPER
‘Endlessly captivating… if you care about the future of Australian fiction, look no further.’
READINGS MONTHLY
‘Exquisite.’
KILL YOUR DARLINGS
‘In turns horrible, sweet, erotic, tense, challenging, beautiful, disgusting, solemn, abhorrent and moving, A Superior Spectre is a novel no serious reader will forget in a hurry.’
JOHN PURCELL, BOOKTOPIA
Author Biography
Angela Meyer’s writing has been widely published, including in Best Australian Stories, Island, The Big Issue, The Australian, The Lifted Brow and Killings. She has previously published a book of flash fiction, Captives (Inkerman & Blunt). By day she works as a commissioning editor for Echo, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing Australia. She lives in Melbourne. Website: literaryminded.com.au Instagram: @literaryminded
Ventura Press
Ventura Press is one of Sydney’s leading independent publishers and has become synonymous with high quality titles and internationally respected authors. Our list covers a unique and specific market – books to enhance life. The Ventura mission is to provide boutique, innovative and exciting publishing in Australia and world wide – with particular focus on bringing strong, female Australian voices to the global stage.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher Ventura Press
- Publication Date August 2018
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9781920727505
- Publication Country or regionAustralia
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 29.99 AUD
- Pages270
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusPublished
- Copyright Year2018
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