The Sad Eyes of the Lewis Chessmen

The Sad Eyes of the Lewis Chessmen features nine stories that explore the consequences of witnessing the impossible and the incomprehensible. The stories plunge the reader into a world where the hideous meets the weird, where the beautiful clashes with the uncanny, and, importantly, where a moment in time overthrows the whole of one’s life. The settings and tones of the stories are remarkably varied. There are stories set in medieval Iceland, in nineteenth-century Egypt, in twentieth-century Russia, and in contemporary Britain. But there are also melancholic stories that unfold in timeless cities. The narrative tone of these tales is always urgent, as if the narrator were confessing to the reader some indescribable pain. Similar to the author’s previous works, the tales draw on folk motifs and legends from around the world; continuing the author’s enduring fascination with death, betrayal, and regret.

The contents of the stories are as follows:

The Sad Eyes of the Lewis Chessmen, a story set in modern day Edinburgh, is about a man who witnesses the most repulsively beautiful chess problem in the universe.

Flaubert’s Alexandrine, set in nineteenth century Egypt, is a story about a man who enters a house of desire that paradoxically puts an end to desire.

The Leviathan at Rifsker, a tale set in medieval Iceland, is about a man who sees, and in turn is seen, by a creature that is infinitely lonely.

The Son’s Crime, a dreamlike sequence set in the British Museum, is about the murderous love of a son for his father.

Billy Goat Blues, set in modern day Shetland, is about a young farmer who spies on a neighbour, but does not understand what he sees until it is too late.

The Bannað, another story set in medieval Iceland, is about a man who comes to realise, all too late, that the price he has paid for a supernatural beast is too high.

The Farewell Letter is a story within a story in which the Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov and his lover look back on their lives with regret.

The Woman from Malta, set in the Faroe Isles, is a desolate tale about an old man who is haunted by a beautiful premonition of his own death.

The Dogs of Valparaiso, a story within a story within a story, is about a torturer who investigates a mysterious stain in a pack of dogs.

The book is a lithographically printed, 188 page pocket sized hardback (105mm x 165mm); limited to 265 copies. It is part of the Egaeus Press Keynote Editions.