Author Talks: Melmoth: Sarah Perry with Aidan Flax-Clark
The bestselling author of The Essex Serpent on her latest novel, a modern-day take on Gothic horror.
Helen Franklin is hiding out in Prague and working as a low-level translator to escape a secret decades in her past. Karel is a professor being haunted by a mysterious dossier that was left to him by a dead man in the National Library. Part confession, part warning, it heralds the arrival of Melmoth the Witness, a mysterious dark-robed figure who has roamed the globe for centuries, searching for those whose complicity and cowardice have fed into the rapids of history’s darkest waters. When Karel brings it to Helen, she thinks little of it—and then Karel goes missing…
Sarah Perry will speak with Aidan Flax-Clark, host of The New York Public Library podcast Library Talks, about her work that pays homage to the traditions of 19th-century Gothic horror and explores clashes between faith and reason, guilt and absolution, justice and the law.
FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED
For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form one hour before the program.
PRESS
Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc.) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Sara Beth Joren at sarabethjoren@nypl.org. For all other inquiries, please contact publicprograms@nypl.org.