The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

Summary

The Gargoyle is a story of redemption. The beginning of the book graphically details a horrific car accident and the subsequent treatment of the unnamed main character’s third degree burns. He is so disfigured and in so much pain that he spends his time imagining the various ways he can kill himself when he is released from the hospital. A woman comes into his life, Marianne Engel, a sculptor of gargoyles, who claims they were lovers in the middle ages and who suffers from schizophrenia. The book jumps back and forth in time as Marianne describes their history and includes four short love stories from different eras and cultures that complement the themes of the book. (These four love stories occur in Japan, England, Japan and Iceland.) A lot is packed into this book and is a cross between a love story and a horror story. The New York Times aptly calls it an “unhinged debut”.