It is long but makes very good comparisons and highlights some differences between Palliser and Dickens – the full blog can be found here. The following quote is from a fellow wordpress blogger. Palliser’s book is Dickensian writing distilled – without the sentimentality or the redemption. His writing style is often compared to that of Dickens, but a Dickens who has taken a long, hard look at himself in the mirror without the benefit of mood lighting. It became an instant bestseller, selling over a million copies, and earned global recognition and praise. He need not have worried: the book was picked up by Canongate Books in 1989 and the publishing rights were quickly picked up by Ballantine Books in the US in January 1991. He said right at the outset of our meeting that when he first wrote The Quincunx he was concerned that no one would be interested in his Victorian pastiche, so much so that he went out and purchased 50 copies of his book so he could hand it out to friends to show them he had written something. Not only is he a prodigiously talented writer, but he was also a wonderfully engaging and interesting speaker who was thought provoking and inspiring.ĭespite the almost universal acclaim his book has received, Charles remains humble and grounded. We were so lucky to be joined at this week’s Book Club by the eminent author Charles Palliser, to discuss his outstanding magnum opus The Quincunx. A Waterstones review said: ‘It is everything you could want in a Victorian novel: episodic, all-encompassing and packed with denouements at every turn.’

The Quincunx is 1,200 pages of pure brilliance, which has been described as ‘more Dickensian than Dickens’ and ‘more Collins than Collins ever was’. This is a Goliath of a book, both in size and in substance. Winner of the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction (1991)

The Quincunx by Charles Palliser