The Stain

By Rikki Ducornet

Book Overview

The provocative, spellbinding debut novel, set in a village in the Loire Valley in the late 19th century, by prolific worldbuilder Rikki Ducornet. In The Stain, Rikki Ducornet tells the story of a young girl named Charlotte, branded with a furry birthmark in the shape of a dancing hare, regarded as the mark of Satan. "Sadistic nuns, scatology, butchered animals, monkish rapists, and Satan" (Kirkus), as well as the village exorcist, inhabit this bawdy tale of perversion, power, possession, and the rape of innocence. Ducornet weaves an intricate design of fantasy and reality, at once surreal, hilarious, and terrifying.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1628975652
• ISBN13: 9781628975659
• Release Date: February 2025
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant wordsmithery

THE STAIN is not a novel for everyone, but it is an unforgettable delight for those who relish gorgeous wordplay. Every sentence bristles with earthy genius. I read this book about once a year, just to savor the prose. Ducornet has written more sophisticated books, perhaps, structurally speaking, but none which give me so much pure pleasure. THE STAIN, to me, is a classic.