The Transformation: A Novel - Hardcover

Chidgey, Catherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805069712 ISBN 13: 9780805069716

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2005

Synopsis

The lives of a French wig maker, a young American widow, and a Cuban cigar maker intersect to startling effect in this masterful, atmospheric novel

Tampa, Florida, 1898: a hazy frontier where the Old World meets the New, where miracles of transformation are possible and the soil is so fertile that dry sticks take root and flower. Dominating the town is the new Tampa Bay Hotel, a fairy-tale castle that in the wintertime is a magnet for the finest sorts of people.

During the off-season, the city is quiet, but a few residents remain. Among these is a most exotic creature by the name of Monsieur Lucien Goulet III, wig maker to the wealthy and glamorous-indeed to any resident of Tampa whose desire for his transformations is keen enough to meet his price. As winter nears its end, Goulet is entranced by a head of hair belonging to the young widow Marion Unger. But this material, without which he absolutely cannot form his greatest masterpiece, is hard to come by, being still attached to its owner. Determined to go forward with the project, Goulet drives his gifted night scavenger-a teenage cigar maker who is a refugee from the war in Cuba-to increasingly extreme efforts.

As the lives of these three unlikely accomplices become ever more entwined, Goulet's true nature becomes disturbingly clear, leading to an electrifying conclusion.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

From the writer described as "the most fabulous New Zealand writer alive" (Listener NZ) comes a masterful novel, with the power of Patrick Suskind's Perfume.

Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1898 is a frontier, where the progress of the modern world has not yet won the battle against the voodoo magic of the swamps, but where miracles of transformation are still possible. Dominating the town is the new Tampa Bay Hotel, with its tangle of Moorish minarets, Byzantine domes and new electric lighting, designed by Edison himself — a fairytale castle that is a winter magnet for the best sort of people — bankers and industrialists, stock brokers and shipping merchants, attorneys and architects and celebrities — who come from the northern cities and Europe.

But the hotel does have one permanent year-round resident: Monsieur Lucien Goulet III is the exotic wigmaker to the rich and glamorous, and indeed to any resident of Tampa whose desire for the transformations he creates is keen enough to meet his price. Goulet himself is entranced by the head of hair belonging to the young widow Marion Unger. And as the raw material he needs to complete his great masterpiece becomes harder to come by, so he drives his gifted night-scavenger — a teenage Cuban cigar-maker — to increasingly extreme efforts.

As this unlikely cast of characters becomes entwined, the secret depths of Goulet's nature rise to the surface, leading to an electrifying conclusion.

About the Author

Catherine Chidgey is the author of The Strength of the Sun (a New York Times Book Review Notable Book) and In a Fishbone Church, which was nominated for the Orange Prize. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0805069712
• ISBN 13: 9780805069716
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320