Eustace

Poor Eustace is not very well. Convalescing in bed, a victim of the coughs and hiccups that rack his frail body, his world is confined to the four spare walls of his grand and gloomy room, in a tall house in London. His days are spent in wild imaginings, punctuated by the occasional visit from his mother, from prune-faced Mrs Perichief, who serves an unvarying menu of watery soup, and from a legion of cannibalistic Aunties, who fuss and smother poor Eustace with their bosoms and kisses. Relief comes from the odd behaviour and antics of his wicked uncle who is soon a regular fixture in Eustace's bedroom, emerging from under the bed in a cloud of pipe smoke, accompanied by a swelling cast of prostitutes, hoodlums, drunkards and assorted hangers-on - a raucous party which seems in no danger of stopping. Eustace finds himself transformed from invalid to the star of a glittering and decadent social scene, serving drinks, offering assistance and holding court from his enormous bed. That is, until his Uncle's past begins to catch up with him...A graphic novel vividly capturing a lonely and interior world, as well as the heady and tumultuous milieu of affluent London between the wars, "Eustace" is a blackly comic, surreal and exquisitely rendered work - and an assured debut.