First published in 1956, October Long Sunday tells the story of Laurent Carteras, a sensitive and cultured young man, who gradually discovers that friends and colleagues no longer recognize him. The novel explores Laurent’s tormented consciousness as he moves towards an extraordinary destiny. In this poetic and intriguing narrative of mental and physical metamorphosis, the Belgian author Guy Vaes displays a mastery of both realistic and fantastic forms that reflect many of the exciting innovations of modern European fiction.