Proof copy. 8vo. Pp. [viii], 215, [1, blank]. Pictorial wrappers.
Author's second novel. Recipient of the Eric Gregory Award for Poetry in 1993. A young research student is left horifically mutilated after he follows a stranger onto a canal towpath. A journey through surgical reconstruction and sexual alienation ensues.
"The Blue Mask takes an intensely personal slant on the big themes of love, identity and retribution, and turns them into something that is both moving and original... the controlled prose honours the complexities of Neil's struggle to differentiate between what he is and what has been done to him." –New Statesman