JACK MAGGS

Jack Maggs, raised and deported as a criminal, has returned from Australia, in secret and at great risk. What does he want after all these years, and why is he so interested in the comings and goings at a plush townhouse in Great Queen Street? And why is Jack himself an object of such interest to Tobias Oates, celebrated author, amateur hypnotist and fellow-burglar - in this case of people´s minds, of their histories and inner phantoms?

In this hugely engaging novel one of the finest of contemporary writers pays homage to his Victorian forebears. As Peter Carey´s characters become embroiled in each other´s furtive desires, and increasingly fall under one another´s spell, their thirst for love exacts a terrible, unexpected cost.