John Mellamphy in The Quincunx
The Quincunx is a lengthy novel published in 1990 by Charles Palliser, an English professor who lives in Scotland. Set in England during the 1820s-30s, the story is narrated by a character who first appears as a young boy named John Mellamphy.
John lives in a small village with his mother, and knows neither his father nor of the fact that Mellamphy is not his real surname. He eventually learns that his mother has something coveted by a number of others: the codicil to the old, disputed Huffam estate, which the present holder of the property is aiming to obtain and destroy.
Palliser's first novel, The Quincunx is a described as a "Dickensian journey through a young man's life as he searches for his identity", and combines "an ancient mystery, a shocking scandal, a passionate love, and a mysterious murder that holds the answer to his existence".
Reviews and References
The Quincunx's publisher states: "... Charles Palliser has created something extraordinary — a plot within a plot within a plot of family secrets, mysterious clues, low-born birth [hey, wait a minute...!], high-reaching immorality, and, always, always the fog-enshrouded, enigmatic character of 19th century — London itself." The New York Times Book Review raved: "You read the first page and down you wonderfully fall, into a long, large, wide world of fiction."
For a brief interview with the author, click here. To purchase The Quincunx online, click here. This story is also mentioned in the family forum on the MalanaphyFamily.com web site.
Palliser, Charles. The Quincunx. Ballantine Books, Inc. (1990): 800pp.
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