A Devil Comes to Town

By: Paolo Maurensig

Narrated by: Simon Hester

Wild rabies runs rampant through the woods. The foxes are gaining ground, boldly making their way into the village. In Dichtersruhe, an insular yet charming haven stifled by the Swiss mountains, these omens go unnoticed by all but the new parish priest. The residents have other things on their mind: literature.

Everyone’s a writer - the nights are alive with reworked manuscripts. So when the devil turns up in a black car claiming to be a hot-shot publisher, unsatisfied authorial desires are unleashed and the village’s former harmony is shattered. Taut with foreboding and Gothic suspense, Paolo Maurensig gives us a refined and engaging literary parable on narcissism, vainglory and our inextinguishable thirst for stories.

©2019 Paolo Maurensig (P)2021 World Editions

Critic reviews

"Paolo Maurensig is an arresting talent among recent Italian writers.” (New York Times)

"This nested narrative is an entertaining exploration of the manifold powers - creative, confessional, corrupting - of fiction.” (Publishers Weekly)

“A Devil Comes to Town blew my mind - think Yorgos Lanthimos directing The Master and Margarita...it’s a bizarre slice of Alpine magic realism that deserves to be everywhere.” (The Observer)

The narrator was amazing

Short sweet and perfect for me I love an eerie unsettling small town vibe and this was it