Overview A trancelike feminist fable of magic, alchemy, and the battle of the sexes by Britains foremost surrealist painter __________Lurks somewhere between the territory of Beardsley and Mervyn Peakes Gormenghast … shudderingly enjoyable Guardian The whole novel possesses a haunting, visionary quality most uncommon in present-day prose. Telegraph Colquhoun is a painterly stylist, her surrealist visions shrouded in Celtic mists. TLSCalcination. Putrefaction. Exaltation. Trapped on an enchanted island ruled by her uncle, a young woman must pass through the stages of alchemical transformation to escape. He wants to conquer death by magic - and she may pay the price for his ambition. Lushly visual, rife with symbols and cries from the unconscious, Colquhouns first novel is a surreal feminist fable, and a supreme artistic vision. Includes Hexentanz, a lost chapter from the original manuscript.