Melmoth

　　幾個世紀以來，一股黑暗的勢力在寰宇間遊走，伺機尋找可以共同作惡的人選，誘惑人性的軟弱，使之捲入歷史的洪流。作者莎拉（Sarah Perry）創造出屬於自己的科學怪人與德古拉，屬於女性的怪物。

　　海倫（Helen Franklin）離開英格蘭，來到布拉格從事翻譯工作。她的好朋友卡爾（Karel）在圖書館發現一封神秘的信件，充滿詭異的自白與警告；當中反覆提及一個怪物，一個古老的傳說，或出現在鮮少人知的童話裡，或鄉野傳說中。這妖物在世界周遊，凡與之接觸的人都慘遭厄運，如同詛咒一般。

　　一開始海倫只把這一切當成無稽之談、迷信之語。但當她漫步於城中的鵝卵石街道上，詭異的四下似乎總有人在跟蹤與窺伺，而她的好友卡爾也離奇失蹤。

　　就像十七世紀歌德體小說一樣，黑暗又詭譎多變，作者莎拉企圖創造一個逸聞，挑戰人心最恐懼的一面。透過這些老舊的信箋、日記與故事，了解到這些偶遇的背後，有股黑暗的勢力在操弄。

　　而我們不可自拔地捲入這一連串惡果。無可救藥地，一路追查真相。（文 / 博客來編譯）

　　For centuries, the mysterious dark-robed figure has roamed the globe, searching for those whose complicity and cowardice have fed into the rapids of history’s darkest waters—and now, in Sarah Perry’s breathtaking follow-up to The Essex Serpent, it is heading in our direction.

　　It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working as a translator, she has found a home of sorts—or, at least, refuge. That changes when her friend Karel discovers a mysterious letter in the library, a strange confession and a curious warning that speaks of Melmoth the Witness, a dark legend found in obscure fairy tales and antique village lore. As such superstition has it, Melmoth travels through the ages, dooming those she persuades to join her to a damnation of timeless, itinerant solitude. To Helen it all seems the stuff of unenlightened fantasy.

　　But, unaware, as she wanders the cobblestone streets Helen is being watched. And then Karel disappears. . . .