Palimpsest

In the Cities of Coin and Spice and In the Night Garden introduced readers to the unique and intoxicating imagination of Catherynne M. Valente. Now she weaves a lyrically erotic spell of a place where the grotesque and the beautiful reside and the passport to our most secret fantasies begins with a stranger's kiss....

Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse--a voyage permitted only to those who've always believed there's another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They've each lost something important--a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in life--and what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.

Publisher: Spectra Books
Published: 02/24/2009
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.28h x 5.34w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9780553385762


Award: Hugo Award - Nominee
Award: Lambda Literary Awards - Winner
Award: Spectrum Awards - Finalist


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 12/08/2008 pg. 48
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2009 pg. 16
Booklist 02/01/2009 pg. 35
Romantic Times 03/01/2009 pg. 70 - Very Good
Library Journal 02/15/2009 pg. 99

About the Author
Catherynne M. Valente was born in the Pacific Northwest, grew up in California, and now lives in Ohio with her two dogs.