The Wardrobe Mistress

The Wardrobe Mistress isn’t just an entertaining ghost story, assembled by a master-manipulator to be full of narrative trapdoors, tantalising at one moment and agreeably grotesque the next: it’s also an exploration of the deep mythology of theatre … McGrath himself seems ambivalent about the sentimentality he depicts. But there’s no political ambivalence here: by the end of the novel, the icy postwar alleys, the shattered theatres and public houses are under the malign enchantment of a quietly resurgent politics. The plentiful mirrorings, the doppelgangers and dybbuks both real and false, make that plain, and make plain that fascism is also a kind of theatre – always already a re-enactment of itself. * Guardian *
A brilliant evocation of the theatrical world’s seedy glamour, The Wardrobe Mistress is also a moving portrait of a woman struggling to make sense of her past and imagine a future for herself. * Sunday Times *
McGrath is so adept at creating a sense of foreboding that one is never sure whether there will be a rational, a psychiatric or a supernatural explanation … wonderfully sinister … a delight … you are in for a thrilling ride. * Spectator *
A chilling novel of grief, passion and unfulfilled longing, where secrets lurk in every dark alley … McGrath takes us backstage in the London theatre — and you can just about smell the greasepaint. But he also opens out his story to embrace the zeitgeist of the time, the misery and deprivation of post-war Britain, the persistent running sore of fascism and the feeling that life after victory isn’t what it was supposed to be. * Daily Mail *
A rich and highly spiced feast of a novel, even before it reaches its classically gothic McGrath climax * Reader’s Digest *
[A] theatrical tale of malice, artifice and stunted affection. * Mail on Sunday *
Splendid…spooky, elegant, self-aware and intellectually deft * Telegraph *
[An] unnerving thriller. * Stylist *
Absolutely superb. * Saga Magazine *
McGrath delivers another accomplished novel. * Woman & Home *

Patrick McGrath is the author of two short story collections and nine novels, including the international bestseller, Asylum. He is also the author of Writing Madness, a collection of his short fiction and selected non-fiction. His novel Trauma was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and Spider was filmed by David Cronenberg from McGrath’s adaptation. He co-edited an influential anthology of short fiction, The New Gothic, and recent non-fiction includes introductions to The Monk, Moby Dick and Barnaby Rudge. Patrick McGrath lives in Manhattan and London.

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