Description
Book Synopsis''A consummate performance...virtuoso'' Guardian
A fascinating, unusual and seductive historical novel by the bestselling author of The Long Firm.
In a Parisian restaurant, Aleister Crowley, the notorious occultist, chances on Major-General Sir Hector Macdonald: once one of the greatest heroes of the British Empire, now facing ruin in a shocking scandal - and vulnerable to Crowley''s curious offer of help. An extraordinary night of transgression and revelation ensues . . .
Probing beneath the surface of Victorian conformity, this is an enthralling tale of imperialism, sexuality and the nature of belief, which captures a world on the brink of a brutal new era.
Trade ReviewBrilliantly expansive and original *
Daily Mirror *
A consummate performance...a virtuoso work of near history, with the occasional in-joke thrown in for good measure...immensely enjoyable *
Guardian *
One of the many pleasures of this skilful book is the maintenance of suspense...Arnott does not ask us to choose between [Crowley and Macdonald] - but much of the moral force of this excellent book lies in his demonstration that there is, nonetheless, a choice to be made. *
Independent *
A great read, full of compassion, humour and riveting detail. *
Sunday Express *
Arnott's great leap forward...Macdonald's predicament is sympathetically examined and Crowley's monstrous drive is brilliantly rendered...it is his best [novel] *
The Herald *
Arnott is clearly having fun here...So to combine that with how the necessity to be good - to be a hero - can be as suffocating a pressure as battling with occultist demons makes
The Devil's Paintbrush a fine book *
Metro *
