We’re pleased to welcome A.K. Blakemore to the Custom House to celebrate the launch of her new book The Glutton, with reading and Q&A.

Sister Perpetue is not to move. She is not to fall asleep. She is to sit, keeping guard over the patient's room. She has heard the stories of his hunger, which defy belief: that he has eaten all manner of creatures and objects. A child even, if the rumours are to be believed.

Following Tarare as he travels from the South of France to Paris and beyond, through the heart of the Revolution, The Glutton is an electric, heart-stopping journey into a world of tumult, upheaval and depravity, wherein the hunger of one peasant is matched only by the insatiable demands of the people of France.

"An embarrassment of riches. A sensory assault fit to slap any reader awake with its gorgeous glut of baroque prose and wise, poised lessons on life, pleasure, class, desire, and love." - Kiran Millwood Hargrave

A. K. Blakemore won the Desmond Elliot Prize for her debut novel, The Manningtree Witches. She is also the author of two full-length collections of poetry and has translated the work of Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo. Her poetry and prose writing has been widely published and anthologised, appearing in the London Review of Books, Poetry, Poetry Review and The White Review, among others.

Quay Words presents: A. K. Blakemore, The Glutton