The Black HouseSomewhere in the Black House is a presence so intrusive it must be a ghost. Alfred Munday, an anthropologist, and his wife, Emma, have left Africa after a long period in a tiny, remote village. They arrive in an English village deep in the Dorset countryside and almost immediately sense the haunting presence of a lovely woman neither of them can name. Their marriage has been made uneasy by their African experience and they do not confide their suspicions. Emma receives strange commands from the spectral woman, but it is left to Alfred to carry out the commands and manage the complex bewilderments of this new village with its mood of threat. In doing so, he begins to understand how his marriage and study have exiled him and how a return home means a return to older fears and desires. --Publisher. |
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African Alec Alfred Anne asked Munday Awdry Black House Bowood House Branch Bridport Broadwindsor Bwamba Caroline Caroline's church hall Claudia coat cold cottages Crewkerne dagger dark Doctor Munday door Dowle drink Emma Emma's empty England eyes face fear feel fingers fire Flack Fort Portal Four Ashes gave girl glass hair hand head heard heart Hosmer Janet Jerry Kampala kitchen knew laughed legs Lennit light London looked Marshwood Vale Motherwell mouth moved Munday felt Munday saw Munday turned Munday's never night PAUL THEROUX pillar box Pilsdon Pen Powerstock remember road seemed seen Silvano sleep smell smiled sorry sound stared stayed stick stood Swahili talk tell There's thing thought told took Uganda vicar village voice walked wall watch wife window woman Yellow Fever Camp Yew Tree