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 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 is soon rocked by revolution, sending him on a dangerous path as his appetite grows increasingly insatiable. Blakemore’s (The Manningtree Witches) historical novel, based upon the real-life Glutton of Lyon, reimagines his story. While the author delivers horrific descriptions, her novel is unexpectedly lyrical and even hopeful. Graham Halstead narrates, modulating his voice to capture Tarare as a young child with simple dreams to a young man seen as an oddity and, ultimately, as a monster. His narration, fully communicating the tenderness, anger, and tragedy of Tarare’s story, brings this luminous novel to the next level.