Mr Cassini

WINNER OF WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2007 «Lloyd Jones's psychogeographic epic about, among other things, Wales, football, water-divining, madness, vampires, Merlin, legends, policemen, birds, mannequins and picnics, is full of ideas but (purposefully) spirals far away from any kind of narrative. Absurdist and resonant, this is a meditation on a nation that is anything but straightforward.» THE GUARDIAN «Few people write with this much verve any more. An extraordinary work of the imagination.» THE INDEPENDENT «Lyrical and inventive.» THE TIMES Mr Cassini, the remarkable follow-up to the award-winning Mr Vogel, is an amazing journey through the geography of one man's troubled mind as he tries to recover the lost years of his childhood. Duxie is a dreamer with holes in his memory. With the help of a mysterious and beautiful girl he sets out on a quest to fill the gaps in his history. And as they search the landscapes and myths of the past they uncover domestic and national tyranny. The tale twists together strands of dream, daydream and reality as Duxie journeys towards freedom – and a final understanding of what caused his amnesia. Because lurking deep within his dreams is a sinister, vampire figure called Mr Cassini, who drinks women's tears, keeps stolen mannequins in a darkened room, and gets up to terrible deeds with his policeman side-kick. Journeying through time, Duxie investigates caves and wells, mystics and madness, and seeks out four extraordinary champions to help him stage a showcase trial on a mountain in the centre of Wales. Mr Cassini is a novel with many themes, including monsters, snow, picnics, islands, drugs, rainbows, eating disorders, insects, justice and magic. Lloyd Jones walked around Wales – a journey of more than a thousand miles – while writing his first novel, the prize-winning Mr Vogel. For Mr Cassini he changed tack, walking across Wales seven times in seven different directions. The result is an ambitious and brilliant exploration of lost childhood and the distortions of the past. Learned, funny and tragic, Mr Cassini is told in dazzling colour.