The Book - Extract 3

This is one of three very short extracts from Station 23 to give you a flavour of the novel.

It is translated by Justine Meredith, chosen by Secret City Salon Ltd and Louis V. to translate the whole of Station 23 into English

PART 3, (NO CHAPTER) PAGES 164–165

Mother, I beseech you, do not ridicule me upon reading that which I am about to impart. We are bound by a profound love of literature, both in its passive and active forms. We are agreed that the latter pursuit demands a quality which, in other undertakings, one would at the very least deem distracting, eccentric or downright insane. I speak, naturally, of the imagination, that vast and infinite sea into which an author plunges daily that they might construct their worlds. If I may put it simply, the difference between the madman and the author lies in this, the latter possesses the faculty to distinguish between that which manifests in reality and that which springs forth from the imagination.

Can you then conceive, dear Mother, that a macabre crossing should arise between those two paths, when the upright rat refrained from attacking and, rather, addressed me? Can you conceive of it, the creature uttered my name, assuring me it harboured no ill intent? I beseech you to summon your imagination! It is by no means my desire to burden your mind with such grotesque images, yet I swear on all that I hold dear and sacred that I speak the truth when I say the rat spoke to me in perfect English, declaring, ‘Mister Lewis! Your design is exemplary! If you continue thus, your labours shall meet with immeasurable success!

Fragment from an unsent letter, written by Matthew Gregory Lewis to his mother, Frances Maria Sewell Lewis, dated 30 August 1794.

Below is an  AI visualisation of the content of  Station 23