The Illustrator: Part 1
BARBARA HODGSON

I have fantasied about creating an illustrated novel for years. Driving on road trips when everyone was asleep I would till my plots and orchestrate my images. While I stand under the pulsing shower spray I compose my song tracks to be tucked in the back sleeve of the book jacket on DVD. Ah, but alas, I have not manifested my illustrated illusions to a fabricated state and must rely on those that have taken the time to bring their own ideas to fruition.

Barbara Hodgson's The Sensualist was the first illustrated novel of hers I read. Having spotted and borrowed it from a dear book club friend, I had to buy my own copy when I returned it. It's a twisted story of old places and hidden secrets, where a woman scours for answers to an unraveling and disturbing mystery.