The Wasp Factory

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The Wasp Factory is Iain Banks’ little known debut novel written in 1984. It is written from a first person perspective, told by sixteen-year old Frank Cauldhame, describing his childhood and all that remains of it. Frank observes many shamanistic rituals of his own invention, and it is soon revealed that Frank was the perpetrator of three deaths of children within his own family before he reached the age of ten himself. As the novel develops, his brother’s escape from a mental hospital and impending return lead on to a violent ending and a twist that undermines all that Frank himself believed about himself.

A gothic horror story, it has qualities of the macabre and bizzare that makes it hard to put down. His study of an obsessive personality is extraordinary, written with the clarity and attention to detail that is most impressive. There are qualities in this book that will challenge your perceptions that is worth investigating.

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