The Chymical Wedding Lindsay Clarke

A novel of intellectual obsession and passion that concerns two groups of people united in their investigation into the "great experiment of nature" in a Norfolk village, but divided by a century of time. A beautifully written, ambitious and captivating novel, which takes a profound look at issues of nature, human existence and forgotten knowledge, The Chymical Wedding, which won the 1989 Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, is already considered a classic for its stylistic prowess and philosophical resonances. Soon after moving to the secluded Norfolk village of Munding, Alex Darken has a disturbing encounter with the ageing poet Edward Nesbit and his young lover Laura. They are obsessively researching the lives of Sir Henry Agnew and his daughter Louisa who lived in Munding in the nineteenth century and were deeply engaged in alchemical practices. Aging poet Edward Nesbit and his young lover, Laura, are obsessively researching the lives of Sir Henry Agnew and his daughter Louisa. Alex Darken is drawn into their fervent quest for knowledge, and soon Alex finds himself entangled in a passionate and intense intrigue that reaches across two centuries