A beaten, broken man, he went on and buried himself in his fortress in Vendée. For three years he became a caterpillar. When the malign metamorphosis was complete, he emerged, an infernal angel unfurling his wings.

It was my GR friend Paquita who thrust my attentions upon Gilles de Rais. You should read her review now. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64513682?book_show_action=false&page=1 It was also happenstance which led me to this specific book a few weeks back at Harold's bookstall. It was quick and haunting read today, one draped with images of menace. The wars of religion are at hand and sorcery remains palpable. The novel then recalls the association of Joan of Arc with de Rais, the infamous serial child murderer of 15th Century France. Leading the narrative forward like Surrealist Virgils are a motley pair of intermediaries: a shocked and shuddering priest and a manipulative Italian Humanist. What unfolds is poetic if incomplete. The conflicted Italian speaks of a malign inversion but the smoke and the screams obscure the philosophy.
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