Titus Awakes: The Lost Book of Gormenghast
by Maeve Gilmore
Overlook Press
The Gormenghast trilogy, written in the 1940s and 50s by Mervyn Peake, is a towering work of fantasy literature that rivals J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings for imaginative flights of fancy. A densely written and lengthy work, the story tells of the travails of Titus, heir to the strange and sprawling Castle Gormenghast, and those who would betray him.
The comparatively slim Titus Awakes is a coda written by Peake's wife, Maeve Gilmore, some years after his death and only recently rediscovered. It's based on a short fragment and some notes Gilmore discovered. Fans of Gormenghast will find it mildly enjoyable, but those who have not read at least one part of the trilogy will be clueless as to what it's about.
Gilmore keeps the spirit and soul of Gormenghast intact in Titus Awakes. She has an intuitive knowledge of the foibles and prepossessions of Titus, the 77th earl of Gormenghast, and understands his lordly ego and the lack of humanity he displays towards others. The tone is passably similar to that of the original, too. Titus feels and acts like a realistic character even though the world he inhabits is a bit skew-whiff.
Still, the style may disappoint readers of the original. One of the major pleasures of Gormenghast is the dense, highly descriptive prose. The books unfold extremely slowly amid layer upon layer of careful description. Even a traverse across a castle room can become an epic event in Peake's imagination.
Gilmore's prose is evocative, but more ordinary. Her work is much less architectural and she prefers to let her words flow freely. The action is often propelled by dialogue, something that was secondary in Peake's writing. Yet this, ironically, results in strength. The book may have its genesis in Peake's imagination, but the result is the work of Gilmore's mind.