Service95 Recommends is the home of the books we love and reviews from our contributors. The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk, set in 1913, unfolds in a Polish guest house where Mieczysław Wojnicz, a student battling tuberculosis, finds himself amid an unsettling series of sinister events.
What We Say: “As soon as I heard the title of this book I was intrigued – and it did not disappoint. It’s 1913, and young Mieczysław Wojnicz is sent to a gentleman’s health resort in the mountains to receive treatment for his respiratory issues among guests whose main topic of conversation is the inferiority of women. When he finds the body of a woman who he assumed was a household servant lying on the dining table, things prove not to be what they first appeared. Refreshingly light-hearted, it tells a folk horror story you won’t forget. If you’re not a fan of horror, don’t be put off. This book will make you feel uneasy, but the intrigue is too good to miss” – Samantha de Haas, Creative Production Manager
What They Say: “The tension builds to a wild night of collective madness, a drunken witches’ sabbath. And death will come for someone. There’s an almost Borgesian quality to the resolution. But remember, this is Tokarczuk. Nothing is ever quite as it seems” — Lee Langley, Spectator
Available on Bookshop.org and Waterstones
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