The Classics Book Club with Henry Eliot at Hatchards, Piccadilly

Hosted by the inimitable Henry Eliot, The Classics Book Club meets on the first Thursday of each month here at Hatchards, Piccadilly.

This month's book is The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg.

'We have heard much of the rage of fanaticism in former days, but nothing to this.'

A wretched young man, 'an outcast in the world', tells the story of his upbringing by a heretical Calvinist minister who leads him to believe that he is one of the elect, predestined for salvation and thus above the moral law. Falling under the spell of a mysterious stranger who bears an uncanny likeness to himself, he embarks on a career as a serial murderer. Robert Wringhim's Memoirs are presented by an editor whose attempts to explain the story only succeed in intensifying its more baffling and bizarre aspects. Is Wringhim the victim of a psychotic delusion, or has he been tempted by the devil to wage war against God's enemies? Hogg's sardonic and terrifying novel, too perverse for nineteenth-century taste, is now recognized as one of the masterpieces of Romantic fiction.

Do join us for what promises to be a fascinating evening of discussion!