PATRICK deWITT reads from his new novel UNDERMAJORDOMO MINOR

Undermajordomo Minor (Ecco Press)

 Patrick deWitt was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for his last novel, The Sisters Brothers. Now, this brilliantly inventive writer takes readers in a new direction with Undermajordomo Minor a folktale re-imagined in a wholly original way—at once adventure, mystery, searing portrait of bad behavior and, above all, violent love story. 

Lucien (Lucy) Minor, is eccentric, young, and aimless. A compulsive liar and sickly weakling, he is without friends in the rural hamlet of Bury. When he accepts the post of Undermajordomo of the remote, foreboding Castle Von Aux, Lucy discovers that the fortress possesses many secrets, including the whereabouts of the castle’s master, Baron Von Aux. He encounters the quaint and quirky denizens of the local village—thieves, madmen, and aristocrats alike—and meets Klara, a delicate beauty for whose love he must compete with the handsome soldier, Adolphus. What unfolds is a surprising tale of polite theft, bitter heartbreak, domestic mystery, and cold-blooded murder, one in which every aspect of human behavior is laid bare for Lucy—and us—to observe.

Following in the footsteps of the Brothers Grimm, Thomas Bernhard, Bram Stoker, and Italo Calvino, deWitt finds great modern resonance in an archetypal tale about sorrow, love, isolation and obsession. 

Praise for Undermajordomo Minor

“Undermajordomo Minor is a wonderfully wry and wise novel, and reading it is like coming across some twisted classic—Cervantes by way of Louis C.K. I marvel at all that Patrick deWitt is able to do on the page.” — Jess Walter, author ofBeautiful Ruins

 “An electrifying adventure, both tender and profane. Nervy, hilarious and utterly unpredictable, Patrick deWitt has served up another dazzler.”— Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
 
“Undermajordomo Minor wears a fairytale cloak, but at its wondrous and fantastical heart lies an unexpectedly moving story about love, home, and the difficulty of finding one’s place in the world. Elegant, beautifully strange, and utterly superb.”— Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven

“Patrick deWitt has an untrammeled and utterly original imagination. I cannot think of anyone else who could pull off so beautifully this controlled explosion of drollery, mischief , sly fun and tenderness.”— Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others

“In his delightful and dark new novel, Booker nominee deWitt brings his amusingly off-kilter vision to a European folk tale. After nearly dying from an illness that claims his father, Lucy Minor, a bored and pompous young man, leaves his fairy tale–like hamlet of Bury to begin a new life as assistant to the majordomo at Castle Von Aux. Just getting there proves to be an adventure: Lucy is beset by thieves, learns of his predecessor’s awful fate, and is relieved of his last coin by Adolphus, an exceptionally handsome soldier fighting a war in the forest. Once at the castle, Lucy befriends the thieves who robbed him, competes with Adolphus for the love of the beguiling Klara, and attempts to restore the Baron Von Aux to sanity. Lucy’s earnest actions only create more trouble when a dinner party descends into grotesque bacchanalia, a lecherous guest loses his teeth, and Adolphus makes a final play for Klara’s heart, driving Lucy to the edge of the Very Large Hole, where he vacillates between killing himself and someone else. deWitt uses familiar tropes to lull the reader into a false sense of grounding, delivering with abundant good humor a fully realized, consistently surprising, and thoroughly amusing tale of longing, love, madness, and mirth.”–Publishers Weekly, 

Patrick deWitt is the author of the critically acclaimed Ablutions: Notes for a Novel, as well as The Sisters Brothers, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Born in British Columbia, he has also lived in California, Washington, and Oregon, where he currently resides.