User:Jmdeane1/sandbox/The Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead, a 1991 horror/fantasy novel written by award--winning science fiction author Tanith Lee, is the third book in The Secret Books of Paradys tetralogy. The book is a collection of short stories recounted by an anonymous narrator and set in a cemetery in the city of Paradys.

Setting

The Book of the Dead

File:1991 Book of the Dead cover by Wayne Barlowe.jpg Cover of The Book of the Dead
Author	Tanith Lee
Cover artist	Wayne Barlowe
Language	English and Japanese
Series	The Secret Books of Paradys
Genre	Fantasy Fiction, Horror Fiction
Publisher	The Overlook Press
Publication date	1991
Media type	Print
Pages	220
Preceded by	The Book of the Beast
Followed by	The Book of the Mad

All the stories in Book of the Dead are set in a world called Paradys. The alternate world is set around a cemetery and has themes of darkness, despair, death as well as romance. The closeness to the cemetery instantly gives the thought of grim themes, which are prevalent in every story. Some connections have been made between the world of Paradys to the city of Paris, offering ideas to its similarities as well as differences. Both Paradys and Paris are associated with the ideas of romance and darkness, but they are opposites in ways that Paris is somewhat of a more hopeful place than Paradys.

Synopsis

The Weasel Bride

In a town haunted by the legend of a man who married a white weasel and died from her bite, childhood friends Marie-Mai Desbouchamp and Roland Coville wed. The morning after their wedding, it is discovered that Roland killed Marie, and won’t tell anyone why. Roland is hanged for what he has done, and only after a priest opens Marie’s crypt is the real reason for her death discovered.  

The Nightmare’s Tale

Jean de St. Jean, a man who lost his parents at a young age, was raised by his aunt, Andromede, and one day realizes he wants to avenge his parent’s death. He seeked out Dargue, the man who killed his parents. Jean was also courting a woman named Gentilissa, who ended the courtship to marry someone else, and later became possessed and killed Jean.

Beautiful Lady

Chorgeh’s “uncle” tells him about a woman named Julie d’Is, who is known to be poisoning every person she come in contact with, and those people later end up dying. One day, a woman named Olizette fell ill soon after meeting Julie, and later died. Chorgeh took care of her during her time of sickness, and wanted to avenge her death, which he did by killing Julie. It was discovered that the real reason behind the mysterious deaths may have been a small flea the coroner found that was attached to her.

Morcara’s Room

There was a supposedly cursed room in the de Venne mansion, and one night before a storm a man named Rendart is welcomed into the mansion. Monsieur and Mademoiselle de Venne told Rendart the tale of Morcara and her room, along with the curse she supposedly put on said room. Rendart was told that those who went up to the room never came down alive. Rendart didn’t believe it, so he went up to the room with a few other men, to see for himself. Rendart and those menperiodically  checked in with the de Vennes after that to prove that they were perfectly fine and not dead.

The Marble Web

At beautiful Jausande Marguerite’s aunt’s evening salon, a Conjuror displays his magical powers, and, when Jausande shows no interest in him, places a spell on her. A year later, she begins talking about the only dream she has ever had, which contains the words “The spider moon she spun with her glow, a marble web on the earth below.” Using the rhyme as a password to travel through the night, she chases after a light and vanishes through a door. Later, her body is pulled from the river.

Lost in the World

Oberand is a scholar obsessed with the legend of an unknown, magnificent valley. When his friend Mercile abandons him for his obsession, Oberand sets out to find the valley. Finding it at last, he falls through quicksand into a cave with a giant, vast ecosystem and a demolished temple. A giant bird seizes him, and just before his death, Oberand realizes that the valley is an enormous skeleton.

The Glass Dagger

The wealthy and desirable Michael Zwarian and the plain artist Valmé are lovers. After Valme rejects his proposal, Michael buys her a glass dagger and begins an affair with the actress Yshtar. Valmé becomes jealous of Yshtar, and while Michael is away on business, Yshtar begins spying on Valmé for Michael. When he returns, he confesses to Valmé that Yshtar is not really his lover--it was a ploy to make her jealous--and Yshtar tells Valmé that she will be on her real lover’s boat the next day. When Valmé sees Yshtar on the boat, she throws the glass dagger at Yshtar, who dies mysteriously.

The Moon is a Mask

Elsa is a young, frail, maid and buys a black feathered mask that turns the wearer into an owl. As Owlsa flew about Paradys, she drinks the blood of the people she finds. Alain enjoys Owlsa’s attacks and captures Owlsa, when he lets the owl to fly about the city he tells her “if you leave me I will die”, and when the owl returns Alain is having sex with a woman which angers Owlsa. The next day, the owl mask falls off Elsa’s face and turns her back to normal and she falls from the sky and dies.

Characters

The Weasel Bride

• Marie-Mai Desbouchamps: Beautiful and passive, she is strangled on her wedding night by her husband Roland after he discovers teeth in her vagina.
• Roland Coville: Marie-Mai’s husband, he refuses to explain why he killed her and is later sent to his death for the crime.
• The Priest: Marries Marie Mai to Roland; later acts as Roland’s confessor.

The Nightmare’s Tale

• Jean de St. Jean: Son of two parents who were executed, he sets off for Haissa to avenge them by killing Dargue. In Haissa, he falls in love with Gentilissa, leading to his death.
• Dargue: Man responsible for signing off on Jean’s parents deaths. He dies and is brought back to life to be murdered again at the hands of Jean.
• Gentilissa: Beautiful woman who is liked by Jean de St Jean. After she rejects Jean’s love, she becomes possessed and kills Jean.
• Andromede: Jean’s aunt and guardian who instills in him the need for revenge and gives Jean money to seek vengeance in Haissa.

The Beautiful Lady

• Julie d’Is: Believed to cast a fatal curse on anyone she comes into contact with. Julie lives in seclusion and is widely feared, but her “curse” is actually a kind of poisonous flea.
• Chorgeh: Julie’s upper-class stalker and eventual killer.
• Olizette: Pastry worker who falls victim to Julie’s “curse”
• Trite: The medical examiner who discovers that Julie’s “curse” was actually a poisonous and supernatural flea.
• (Chorgeh’s) Uncle: Introduces Julie and her story to Chorgeh

Morcara’s Room

• Morcara Venka: A fierce and audacious woman who decides to take her own life after being rejected by a man who she desired. In the room where she commits suicide, she leaves a note, “cursing” the room for decades to come.
• Angelsteine: An upper-class man who rejects Morcara.
• Grisvold: A mentally-ill boy who dies after entering Morcara’s “fatally cursed” room.
• Cesar: The young boy who lives in the house in where Morcara had lived decades before. He is the one who convinces Grisvold to enter Morcara’s room.
• Rendart: The man who discovers, decades after Morcara’s death, that the room is not actually cursed.

The Marble Web

• Jausande Marguerite: The woman who falls victim to the Conjurer’s fatal spell.
• The Conjurer: A man of dark magic, conjuring, and hypnotism who is responsible for casting a trance on Jausande that led her to her death.
• Jausande’s Aunt: In the salon with Jausande when they first witness the conjurer’s powers
• Paul Labonne: Jausande’s fiance

Lost in the World

• Oberand: A man who leaves his friends behind in order to seek out the Valley of God. He dies in the valley after being captured by a bird
• Monsieur Mercile: Oberand’s long time friend who betrays Oberand by no longer supporting his unjustifiable obsessive behavior
• Andre: A man of mixed race who accompanies Oberand the night before Oberand disappears

The Glass Dagger

• Valme: One of Michael's lovers who claims not to be in love with Yshtar. Valme throws a magical glass dagger at a mirror, which shatters, killing Yshtar.
• Yshtar: An actress who has an affair with Michael; killed by Valme
• Michael Zwarian: Valme’s upper class lover

The Moon is a Mask

• Elsa Garba: Becomes Owsla when putting on a feathered mask
• Owlsa: Elsa in owl form
• Alain: A mender who captures Owlsa, who he seems to be in love with
• Melie: The doll that Elsa puts a mask on to confirm the mask’s powers to turn things into an owl.

Background

In Tanith Lee’s career she published over 90 books, 300 short stories, several poems, 4 BBC radio plays, and 2 episodes of the BBC’s sci-fi television series Blake’s 7. This is a very impressive career that she put together, it is even more impressive because until the age of 8 Lee was unable to read because she struggled with dyslexia. . The Book of the Dead was not published until 1991 which was near the middle of Tanith Lee's writing career.. From 1988-1993, Tanith Lee worked on the entire Paradys series. The Paradys series consists of four novels, The Book of the Damned, The Book of the Beast, The Book of the Dead, and The Book of the Mad. Tanith Lee was a science fiction, horror, and fantasy writer who was influenced by many different authors, playwrights, painters, and musicians. . Well-known people that had an influence on Tanith Lee's writing style and therefore indirectly, the Paradys series, are William Shakespeare, Johnny Cash, Vincent Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, and Charles Dickens. . Another person that had a huge influence on her work and that would often help her out was her husband, John Kaiine.

Themes

Tanith Lee held an obsession with love, sex, and death and they are recurring themes throughout her stories. Lee also explores the themes of aloneness Some of the characters in The Book of the Dead live in seclusion because of traits that make people not want to be around them. This is evident in stories such as “A Beautiful Lady,” in which Julie d’Is is secluded because she is thought to be poisoning everyone she comes in contact with. Love is a constant theme that appears throughout the stories because relationships play a big role in almost all of the stories in the book, and it is shown that love and death work together because love leads to death. Corruption and death are also recurring themes throughout the stories in The Book of the Dead. Characters in these short stories often lead to the death of other characters within the same story. Most, if not all of these characters, are either someone different than what they are portrayed to be, or they become something different, indicating transformation or alteration.

Writing style

Tanith Lee started writing children’s books in the early 1970s, then half way through the decade and until the 1990s she began to write adult fantasy . One of her most notable works is The Secret Books of Paradys series. Within each series she focuses on a specific color throughout each novel and uses black and white as a motif . In the series’ third novel, Tanith Lee takes the reader through haunting Paradys. Many critics believe she chooses her inspiration from real places. Thus Paradys must symbolize Paris . She also creates female protagonists as main characters, which is another one of her writing trademarks seen in The Book of the Dead .

Critical reception

A wild portrait of love, death, and sex; The Book of the Dead captivated only specific audiences. Critically, it was not perceived as well as some of Tanith Lee's other novels such as The Book of the Dammed. Some described it as disappointing due to the lack of absence of a unifying theme throughout the stories. Compared to her other works, The Book of the Dead was labeled mediocre as a book for the common reader. For those who fancy a dark fantasy novel, this will engross their interests.