Hourmaster: Novel

In his palace in a city vanquished by the years, the Duke Gonzaga lives consumed by his passion for young girls and his deep boredom. Time passes as marked by the more than two hundred clocks situated throughout the palace. When the old hourmaster and his successor both disappear, Gonzaga employs Arturo who becomes the new keeper of the palace’s timepieces. Arturo – called Gog – also becomes the Duke’s friend and for a time alleviates Gonzaga’s boredom as they share the nightly clock-keeping rounds. There seems to be the beginning of new life in the realm. The hourmaster marries happily and fathers a daughter. But the Duke’s restlessness and ennui return and when the hourmaster vanishes – for reasons the reader is to discover – time again stands still. In the words of the translator Richard Howard, Christophe Bataille’s third novel is a remarkable, even triumphant little book.