After Robert Aickman's death in 1981 the manuscript of The Model, a wintry rococo fable set in Czarist Russia, was located among his papers. Aickman had told a friend he considered this novella to be 'one of the best things I have ever written, if not the very best.' It was duly published for the first time in 1987.
The Model tells of Elena, a grave girl inclined to losing herself in dreams of becoming a student ballerina orcoryphée. Her dolour darkens further when she learns she is to be sold into marital slavery by her father so as to settle the family's debts. Refusing an unendurable future she sets out to the city of Smorevsk to pursue her dream. First, however, she must traverse a landscape crowded by highly curious characters and creatures.
'A must for Aickman fans... A model of eloquent elegant enchantment.' Robert Bloch (Psycho)
Genre: General Fiction
The Model tells of Elena, a grave girl inclined to losing herself in dreams of becoming a student ballerina orcoryphée. Her dolour darkens further when she learns she is to be sold into marital slavery by her father so as to settle the family's debts. Refusing an unendurable future she sets out to the city of Smorevsk to pursue her dream. First, however, she must traverse a landscape crowded by highly curious characters and creatures.
'A must for Aickman fans... A model of eloquent elegant enchantment.' Robert Bloch (Psycho)
Genre: General Fiction
Praise for this book
"The Model is an apt title for a work that is just that - a model of eloquent elegant enchantment. It's a must for Aickman fans, and for everyone who enjoys fantasy at its highest and most literate level." - Robert Bloch
"Robert Aickman is incomparable - a genuinely authentic original and an absolute master of psychological fiction." - Dennis Etchison
"He is a weatherman of the subconscious." - Fritz Leiber
"A Strange and delicate winter fable, chilling and dreamlike." - Michael Swanwick
"The late Robert Aickman was up to something. and quite consciously. He did not title his little book The Model for nothing. What he has done (and knew he had done) is discover a new wonderland." - Gene Wolfe
"Robert Aickman is incomparable - a genuinely authentic original and an absolute master of psychological fiction." - Dennis Etchison
"He is a weatherman of the subconscious." - Fritz Leiber
"A Strange and delicate winter fable, chilling and dreamlike." - Michael Swanwick
"The late Robert Aickman was up to something. and quite consciously. He did not title his little book The Model for nothing. What he has done (and knew he had done) is discover a new wonderland." - Gene Wolfe
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