Michael Cox

The Meaning of Night

A Confession

“Superb. ... An engrossing and complicated tale ... that touches on every aspect of Victorian society.”—Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World

“After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn’s for an oyster supper.” So begins the “enthralling” (Booklist, starred review) and “ingenious” (Boston Globe) story of Edward Glyver, booklover, scholar, and murderer. A chance discovery convinces Glyver that greatness awaits him. His path to win back what is rightfully his leads him to Evenwood, one of England’s most enchanting country houses, and a woman who will become his obsession.

“A richly imagined thriller ... a stand-out literary debut.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“As beguiling as it is intelligent, full of great country houses, epic loves, fierce anger and vicious habits.”—New York Times Book Review

“Unfailingly suspenseful.”—USA Today

“Will appeal to fans of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke and Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White.”—The Economist

Michael Cox is the author of a widely praised biography of the scholar and ghost-story writer M. R. James and the editor of The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories and The Oxford Book of Victorian Detective Stories. He lives in rural Northamptonshire.