West is a master.

Washington Post Book World

A suspenseful and uniquely literary look in Guy Fawkes and the English Gunpowder Plot of 1605, by one of America’s most celebrated writers.

A Fifth of November

Fiction by Paul West

In A Fifth of November, Paul West creates a mesmerizing tale with the events surrounding the English Gunpowder Plot (1605). Instigated by thirteen Catholic conspirators, most famously Guy Fawkes, the Plot was a failed attempt to blow up the English Parliament and King James I. At the heart of West’s novel are the trials of Father Henry Garnet, superior of the English Jesuits, who is hidden from the king’s henchmen behind the walls of English mansions. Shielding him from harm is the melancholy noblewoman Anne Vaux, a Catholic sympathizer. A Fifth of November tells the tale of Garnet: from when he first hears of the plot––the conspirators have confessed their plan to him, what is his responsibility?––to his imprisonment in the Tower of London. All along, the figures who partake of this historical moment are brightly, often horrifically, drawn. In A Fifth of November, West tackles through his rhapsodic language, brilliant characterizations, and historical precision that inevitable topic: human evil.

Paperback(published Nov, 01 2004)

ISBN
9780811216067
Price US
15.95
Trim Size
5x8
Page Count
368

Clothbound(published Nov, 01 2004)

ISBN
9780811214674
Trim Size
5x8
Page Count
368
Portrait of Paul West

Paul West

Contemporary English Novelist

West is a master.

Washington Post Book World