Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
Commedia Mortale - cover

We are sorry! The publisher (or author) gave us the instruction to take down this book from our catalog. But please don't worry, you still have more than 500,000 other books you can enjoy!

Commedia Mortale

Wayne Holloway

Publisher: INFLUX PRESS

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

'"Idiosyncratic" doesn't begin to get near him'
– Guardian
Liguria, Italy. In a mountain village sits an old farmhouse that stores the memories of those who have lived there and suffers the tales of the visitors who come and go. The house weaves its magic on all who encounter it.
New owners move in and over time become entangled with a parade of oddball characters. From pagan ritual to the antics of modern village life, the clash between outsiders and locals, Commedia Mortale seeks to understand what is authentic in both: the tall tales of ageing Second World War Partisans, the dreams of a chef to travel to parts unknown supported by a Greek chorus of drunks, a talking parrot, and asylum-seeking footballers with their own dreams, and miraculously a visit to the village by Anthony Bourdain himself.
Parsed through the eyes of a film maker, the ultimate outsider, Commedia Mortale summons dreams of kinship and nightmares of enmity. Ranging across philosophy, food, history, love, loss and landscape, Holloway conjures up a unique portrait of a place, the fables of its past and the dilemma of how to live now.
Available since: 04/25/2025.
Print length: 292 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • Carmilla - cover

    Carmilla

    Sheridan Le Fanu

    • 0
    • 1
    • 0
    Carmilla (1872) is a Gothic novel that begins when Laura, a young woman living with her father in an isolated castle in Styria, receives an unexpected visit from Carmilla, a mysterious young woman who, following an accident during her journey, stays as a guest at the family home.
    
    As the two young women grow closer, Laura finds herself increasingly fascinated by her new companion. However, Carmilla's strange behaviour, her prolonged absences at night and the unsettling secrets surrounding her past arouse a growing unease. At the same time, a series of strange illnesses and deaths begin to spread throughout the region, fuelling rumours and fears amongst the local inhabitants.
    
    As she tries to make sense of the events unfolding around her, Laura finds herself caught up in an atmosphere of mystery, attraction and danger where nothing is quite what it seems and where an ancient threat appears to have returned to disrupt the peace of the place.
    Show book
  • Cloud Watcher - cover

    Cloud Watcher

    Lilith Saintcrow

    • 0
    • 1
    • 0
    Anya Harris's unwanted talents have made her a refugee, flying from city to city ahead of a tide of burning terror nobody else can see. She's hoping Santiago City will be different, but deep in her heart of hearts, she knows nowhere is safe enough for someone with her secrets. When the gray-eyed man with guns and a sword shows up, claiming to be sent to protect her, Anya has to believe him. After all, she has nowhere else to go.
    Jack Gray is one of the oldest Watchers around, scarred by the battle between Circle Lightfall and the Crusade. He's found his witch, and nothing is going to get in the way of protecting her. But being a Watcher is never as simple as it looks. Anya's talent makes her worth millions, if she's delivered alive to the right corporate bidders. Jack's the only one who can save her. But when she finds out who he really is, he might lose her for good . . .
    Show book
  • In the Black Dream - cover

    In the Black Dream

    Victoria Sterling

    • 0
    • 1
    • 0
    Description:
    Iris Ainsley has spent her whole life losing to her twin.
    
    Juliet is the gifted one — beautiful, celebrated, adored by everyone who meets her, including their own parents. Iris is the one who studies until her hair falls out and still finishes second. And Juliet means to keep it that way. Every prize Iris earns, Juliet steals. Every person Iris loves, Juliet takes. When Iris finally fights for a future of her own, the cost is a shattered leg and a stolen life.
    
    But Juliet has one fatal blind spot. She can only steal what already exists — and Iris isn't finished writing yet.
    
    A chilling story of two sisters, a rewritten fate, and the terrible patience of a girl who refuses to lose. Some people are born to shine. Others are forged in the dark.
    Show book
  • World's Edge - A haunting collection of near-future fiction from a master of American Noir - cover

    World's Edge - A haunting...

    James Sallis

    • 0
    • 1
    • 0
    James Sallis' collection of five novellas.
    'James Sallis is a superb writer ' - Times
    James Sallis' World's Edge presents five masterful novellas—Dayenu, Carriers, Settlers, Allotments, and Reconstruction—exploring fractured societies, human resilience, and the fragile intersections of morality and survival. Sallis's prose, as sharp as it is evocative, captures the nuances of his dystopian and near-future settings, resonating with themes of dislocation and identity. Widely regarded as a pivotal voice in contemporary US fiction, Sallis's work aligns with literary giants such as Cormac McCarthy and Denis Johnson, weaving the poetic bleakness of the former with the incisive character studies of the latter. These stories draw readers into a world both intimate and unyielding, where existential questions lurk beneath stark, elegant narratives.
    Show book
  • The Unwanted Daughter - cover

    The Unwanted Daughter

    Elara Frost

    • 0
    • 2
    • 0
    Description:
    They never loved her. They never even looked for her.
    
    Peach was the unwanted daughter—born after her twin brother didn't survive. Her family made sure she knew it. Every day. Every choice.
    
    When her sister marries the man Peach loved, no one expects her to show up. But when she doesn't, they're not worried. They're angry. Her mother curses her. Her brother calls her selfish. Her father disowns her.
    
    They don't know that Peach is already dead.
    
    Murdered the night before the wedding. Her body buried where no one would look.
    
    Now, as a ghost bound to the family that never wanted her, Peach watches them eat, argue, and move on. Until grief and guilt begin to tear them apart from the inside.
    
    A haunting, heartbreaking story about the daughter no one loved—and what happens when it's too late to try.
    Show book
  • The Assassin's Mark - One of The Sunday Times' best historical novels - cover

    The Assassin's Mark - One of The...

    G J Williams

    • 0
    • 1
    • 0
    'The fourth book in G J Williams's Tudor Rose Murders series is, like its predecessors, a fast-moving and enjoyable mystery' The Sunday Times, May 2026 
    'The Tudor Rose series has already firmly established itself as one of the best historical crime series today, and The Assassin's Mark has set the standard even higher' Chris Lloyd 
    'Another absolute gem of a novel. Williams paints a vivid gripping picture of life – and death – in Tudor times. Don't let anyone prise it from your grasp until it's done' Zoe Sharp 
    'G J Williams brings her fascinating wealth of knowledge about Tudor England to another cracking mystery' Guy Jenkin 
    It is March 1570 and Elizabeth’s court has just crushed the Northern rebellion that sought to throw her from the throne in favour of Mary Queen of Scots. 
    Relief is shattered when a body is found near the palace. The ritualistic killing, a cloven hoof-print, a calling card, and the terrifying message daubed on the wall, point to a long-forgotten pagan deity linked to the Templars. 
    John Dee and Margaretta must navigate a community under threat, a pattern of poisoning, a City in fear of a spectre, and the dark arts of rival queens as they race between England and the courts of France to uncover an assassin known only as Baphomet. 
    'Compelling and meticulously researched, you're drawn into the dark heart of a disturbing crime. The Assassin's Mark is another triumph for G J Williams' Sarah Ward 
    'A masterly and compelling historical mystery and a real page-turner' Mark Ellis 
    'This fast paced and thoughtful adventure already makes me impatient for Williams' next book' Adele Jordan 
    'An engaging and entertaining historical mystery with an imaginative premise' Historical Novel Society
    Show book