Bad Juliet peels back the placid surface of a sanitarium town in early twentieth-century upstate New York to reveal tragedy, lies, and passionate love among characters who are much more complicated than they seem at first glance. With the enigmatic woman at its centre and its many unexpected turns, this is Giles Blunt at his narrative best.
Antanas Sileika, author of Some Unfinished Business
A powerful, engrossing, and beautifully written tale of a struggling poet, a famous Broadway playwright, and the beautiful young woman — a survivor of the Lusitania suffering from tuberculosis — whom both men love. Set in a sanitarium among the awe-inspiring lakes and forests of upstate New York, Bad Juliet shadows the trio as the men vie for the affections of a woman whose dark past and horrifying secrets threaten them all. Bad Juliet is a romance, a period piece, and a mystery, not to mention a North American answer to Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain.
George Michelsen Foy, author of The Last Green Light
Bad Juliet will hold you in its grip from its opening pages, combining the pacing and twists of a thriller with the compelling characterizations and masterful prose of a writer at the top of his form. Giles Blunt captures the world of an early twentieth-century sanitarium with the vividness and nuance of Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain, all the while confronting us with issues just as pressing today as they were a hundred years ago.
Nino Ricci, award-winning author of The Origin of Species
Giles Blunt deftly captures the mystique of a tuberculosis ‘healing’ town, and all the unavoidable drama that occurs when obsessive love sets itself inside a patient's mind and body.
Donna Morrissey, bestselling author of Rage the Night
A powerful, engrossing, and beautifully written tale of a struggling poet, a famous Broadway playwright, and the beautiful young woman — a survivor of the Lusitania suffering from tuberculosis — whom both men love. Set in a sanitarium among the awe-inspiring lakes and forests of upstate New York, Bad Juliet shadows the trio as the men vie for the affections of a woman whose dark past and horrifying secrets threaten them all. Bad Juliet is a romance, a period piece, and a mystery, not to mention a North American answer to Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain.
G M Foy, author of The Last Green Light
In this charming novel, Giles Blunt uses the magic of his narrative talents to tantalize us about the true character of his appealing heroine, accused of lies, fraud, and loose morals. Best read by lamplight and a blazing fire.
Susan Swan, author of The Dead Celebrities Club
There’s a Nick Carraway feel to the narration, and the thrust of the narrative is well-paced and engaging. Much like the ending in The Great Gatsby, one is left wondering about the illusive nature of fulfillment and genuine happiness for Blunt’s characters.
The Miramichi Reader
Captivating and beautifully written, with extraordinary care to reimagine daily life in a sanitarium, this is an intriguing tale with the taut pace of a thriller.
Toronto Star
A doom-haunted story of obsessive love. If it sometimes takes on the aura of a fevered dream — well, this is the sort of period setting that invites it and compels one to read on.
Ottawa Citizen
[Bad Juliet is] a tragedy full of surprises — and truly moving.
Literary Review of Canada
Bad Juliet is just too immersive, too classical, too beautifully told, too interesting a read to be merely classed a beach read. It’s a gracious “Lake House Read.” Something to really savour when you have time and the need to dissolve completely into another world.
Seabord Review of Books
There’s a Nick Carraway feel to the narration, and the thrust of the narrative is well-paced and engaging. Much like the ending in The Great Gatsby, one is left wondering about the illusive nature of fulfillment and genuine happiness for Blunt’s characters.
The Miramichi Reader
Nothing prepares you for this glorious read. A gripping narrative, an unlikely setting and plot twists leaping out like unexpected moguls on a ski slope which the masterful prose of the author skims over with panache…. A novel of great worth, brilliance and originality.
49th Shelf
Novelists who deliver a profound sense of place in their writings are worth their weight in gold. Take Giles Blunt, for example.
Montreal Gazette