Seahorse

Library Journal

Both of these dark novels are set in nameless foreign countries where things are not exactly as they seem and bizarre occurrences are the norm. First published in England in 1980, Seahorse, the author's first book, is the tale of a quest in the manner of Heart of Darkness in which the narrator arrives on foreign shores to investigate strange reports about "The Institute" and its head, Dr. Daniels. As the narrator waits to gain admittance, he passes time in the nearby village, where the townspeople play a card game called Seahorse whose arcane rules are never explained to him. The cardsdepicting fantastic and grotesque scenes of wolflike dogs who attack people, children who walk on water, and mermaids basking on rocksaugur the surreal events that befall the narrator. In The Siege, an art historian returns with her lawyer husband to her war-torn native country to research the recent discovery of 400-year-old frescoes and journals attributed to Sister Margaret, a nun with heretical feminist leanings. Left to his own devices, her husband embarks on a nightmarish search of his own into acts of torture, both historic and contemporary. These well-told stories will appeal to readers with a taste for the macabre. Buy where demand warrants.Barbara Love, Kingston P.L., Ontario