Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for offering me an ARC copy of this new edition of The Goose of Hermogenes by Ithell Colquhoun, with an introduction from Jennie Higgie.

The Goose of Hermogenes is a short novella (144 pages) which follows an unnamed narrator as she visits, and becomes trapped in, her Uncle’s estate on an unnamed island. Colquhoun was a renowned British artist, poet and occultist who was mostly associated with surrealism and this certainly translates into the narrative of The Goose of Hermogenes.

We follow the unnamed narrator’s experience as she becomes trapped on the island. Unsure throughout whether what we are reading is true, a surreal fever dream, or merely the narrator’s own act of fictitious storytelling, Colquhoun offers beautifully lyrical descriptions of the lush island setting.

For the first half of the novella I was unsure about its pacing - the novella progressed slowly, with Colquhoun focusing on world building. The setting is increasingly gothic as we come to meet the Uncle, the Arbitrator, and explore the estate and the house. It certainly did take some time but all of a sudden we are plunged into the climax of the novella: an occult orgy of alchemical transformation. I came to understand the narrator as being stuck in some sort of liminal space on this island; she meets her family again, and her estranged father, but none of it really seems real.

Most notable to me was the short story embedded in one of the chapters, Corolla’s Pinions, which makes the novella worth reading in its own merit.

Perhaps I would have understood more of the book if I was more well read, as I have a sneaking suspicion some of the plot points were derived from classical texts.

Pushkin’s new edition of The Goose of Hermogenes also includes Hexentanz, the final chapter of the novella which was excised in the original publication. This a short, baffling chapter which is loosely related to the existing plot; perhaps it is narrated by the same character; we hear of the Arbitrator once more also. The final chapter has some quite gruesome elements of body horror which wraps up the message of The Goose of Hermogenes as a cautionary feminist fable of bodily transformation, coercive control, and occultist experimentation.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7500535960

This was a really strange fever dream of a book which was written beautifully but I did find it a bit confusing in places. I enjoyed this overall as it was interesting and something different from the norm. I’d definitely read more from the author

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc