The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore
What's It About?
A subversive historical novel set during the French Revolution, inspired by a young peasant boy turned showman, said to have been tormented and driven to murder by an all-consuming appetite.Take a step into the past, 1798 to be exact, where we find Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon in A.K. Blakemore’s latest novel, The Glutton. Nuns working in a Versailles hospital are watching over this man, who has a ravenous, insatiable appetite for, well … everything. And I mean everything. He will eat anything. Sister Perpetué has been asked to watch this sick patient overnight and has the opportunity to hear his wild story. As one of the seven deadly sins, she has been warned about this patient, to never leave him alone or believe his lies. But she can’t help but submit to her overwhelming curiosity.
Path to Showmanship, Chaos and Murder
18th-century France is not a time I would like to live in. Conditions were hard, revolution was in the air and if you are not a member of the elite class, you are destined for a hard life. But Tarare loved his life, and started off innocent and blissfully unaware of how the “real world” worked. But when he and his mother are robbed, his stepfather decides enough is enough and tries to kill Tarare which sets him off on his new path. Moving from the life of a teenage peasant boy to one of showmanship, chaos and murder.
They say he ate a golden fork, but he’s also eaten rats, rusty nails, corks, and human flesh which all may be killing him from the inside. Tarare’s incredible and endless appetite is exploited by a band of misfits whom he teams up with for survival, but it all comes to a head when he sees their true colors. From there, he thinks joining the military will help him stay fed and quell his desires, but once his superiors find out his “talents” he is further exploited, this time putting him behind enemy lines where he is sent to deliver messages to the Prussian army. Ultimately, he finds himself in the hospital which is where this story begins and ends. But his life is a compilation of various horrors, all different but all related to one thing … that constant and bottomless hunger.
Inspired by Historical Medical Records
What is amazing about this book is that The Glutton of Lyon previously existed only in medical records, and Blakemore has been able to craft a story that brings him to life — puts meat on his bones, if you will. This story is vivid but shows an unexpected side of the coin — the struggle that it must have been to be Tarare, the pressure and shame and torture that accompanied being The Glutton of Lyon.
This story is bizarre, dark, gruesome and violent with a sprinkle of sadness. Overall, it’s certainly not uplifting but the prose was incredible, so anyone who appreciates poetic and incredibly descriptive novels will love this. However, it is not for the faint of heart.
Tarare’s story is intermixed with Sister Perpetué’s thoughts on morality and the ethical nature of the story she is being told by her charge. This book makes you question things, makes you think about what you would do and ultimately had me feeling really horrible for Tarare, who was manipulated and exploited his entire life. It is beautiful, haunting and terrifying all at once, and it is certainly a book I will think about for some time.
About A.K. Blakemore:
A.K. Blakemore is the author of two collections of poetry: Humbert Summer and Fondue. She has also translated the work of Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo. Her poetry and prose writing have been widely published and anthologized, appearing in The London Review of Books, Poetry, The Poetry Review, and The White Review, among other publications. Her debut novel, The Manningtree Witches won the Desmond Elliot Prize 2021. She lives in London, England.
