The Iremongers are let loose in the States today as HEAP HOUSE, the first book in Edward Carey’s acclaimed IREMONGER trilogy, is published in the US by Overlook. It will be published in beautiful hardback with illustrations by the author himself.
The book, which will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl and Mervyn Peake, young and old alike, tells the story of Clod Iremonger and his eccentric family ('kings of mildew, moguls of mould'), all of whom must carry 'birth objects' as a matter of course, and who make their fortune from the collective detritus of a Dickensian London. When Clod begins to hear objects from the heaps speaking out, everything is shifting, and with the arrival of orphan, Lucy Pennant, Clod will have to decide where he belongs.
The book has already received a fantastic review in the New York Times by Pseudonymous Bosch, who wrote:
‘At first glance, you might mistake Edward Carey's HEAP HOUSE for a new edition of Dickens illustrated by Edward Gorey. In fact, the novel's delightfully dour, hand-painted portraits are the work of Carey himself. . . . Carey remains true to his dark, skewed vision all the way to the perverse but perfect end. HEAP HOUSE is weird, yes, Spectacularly so. . . . Here's hoping … [this] talented and original author stay[s] strange.’
Kirkus called HEAP HOUSE ‘a gothic tale in turns witty, sweet, thoughtful and thrilling—but always off-kilter—and penned with gorgeous, loopy prose just this side of precious… magnificently creepy’, and Publisher’s Weekly gave it a starred review, writing ‘Full of strange magic, sly humor, and odd, melancholy characters, this trilogy opener, peppered with portraits illustrated by Carey in a style reminiscent of Peake’s own, should appeal to ambitious readers seeking richly imagined and more-than-a-little-sinister fantasy.’, and included it in their Best Indie Books Fall 2014 picks. It has also been listed by Indie Sleepers on their “Big Books From Small Presses 2014” list.
In the UK, HEAP HOUSE was recommended on the Booktrust Christmas Gifts for Children List 2013 and listed by The Sunday Times as one of the Top Children’s Books of 2013. Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton called it ‘delightful, eccentric, heartfelt, surprising, philosophical’ and her ‘favourite novel for children published this year’. The paperback is currently available.
Rights to HEAP HOUSE have been sold in 9 territories, including HarperCollins in Canada who published in March. In the UK, Hot Key have just published the second in the trilogy, FOULSHAM.
Visit the Iremongers on Edward’s website
Praise for HEAP HOUSE:
‘Edward Carey's HEAP HOUSE-- delightful, eccentric, heartfelt, surprising, philosophical, everything that a novel for children should be.’ – Eleanor Catton, author of THE LUMINARIES
‘IREMONGER torques and tempers our memories of Dickensian London into a singularly jaunty and creepy tale of agreeable misfits. Read it by gas lamp, with a glass of absinthe at your wrist and a fireplace poker by your knee. ’ -- Gregory Maguire, author of WICKED
'I cannot recommend HEAP HOUSE by Edward Carey enough. The best book of its kind since GORMENGHAST (& more exciting)' – Gregory Norminton
‘Fabulously strange and in the tradition of Mervyn Peake... Astonishing and inventive, it calls out to be read.' – Sunday Times Best Children’s Books of 2013
