The Glutton

In 1798 France, Sister Perpetué, a nun working in a hospital near Versailles, watches over a most unusual patient and learns of his heartbreaking past. The gaunt, sallow man, named Tarare, is dying. It’s rumored that he ate a golden fork that is killing him from the inside out, but he is also said to have done more monstrous things to satisfy his unending and unusual appetite. Born to a widowed mother, Tarare grew up loving the saints and Baby Jesus. However, his gentle country life was soon rocked by revolution, sending him on a dangerous path as his appetite grew increasingly insatiable. Blakemore’s (The Manningtree Witches) historical novel, reimagines the story of the real-life “Glutton of Lyon.” While Blakemore delivers horrific descriptions, her novel is unexpectedly lyrical and even hopeful. Graham Halstead narrates, modulating his voice to capture Tarare as a child with simple dreams and as a young man seen as an oddity, and, ultimately, a monster. His narration, fully communicating the tenderness, anger, and tragedy of Tarare’s story, brings this luminous novel to the next level.