My Selection- Angel of Ruin

By Kim Wilkins

“… I began to drift upwards into consciousness again. I could hear her voice echoing in my ears, and I yearned for her. I yearned for her company, the strange stuffy smell of the room, the story, all of it. For the first time, I wondered if Neal and Deirdre and the others could be right: if it was possible to put a spell on someone through telling a story….” (Kim Wilkins, “Angel of Ruin”, Harper Collins Publishers, p. 184.)

My introduction to Australian author Kim Wilkins was through her second novel, “Grimoire”, an eerie blend of magic, sex, horror, and history set in a university campus in Melbourne. As a university student at the time, and as a fan of sex and the supernatural, I was drawn to the premise of the book: a group of academics who dabble in ritual magic are trying to piece together the remnants of a 19th century grimoire (book of magic). Meanwhile, a trio of Masters students, are also hunting down the grimoire, drawn into the murky web by the ghost of a young man, the former assistant of the grimoire’s author.

I was rivetted by the book, and immediately raced out to find Wilkins’ first novel, “The Infernal” (winner of the 1997 Aurealis Awards for Best Horror and Best Fantasy). It was even more engrossing than “Grimoire”, the storyline involving history, magic, music, sex, past lives, and a grizzly murder mystery to boot. To say I was hooked is an understatement: I devoured the book in one sitting, staying up all through the night to finish it. Ever since, I have been a devoted fan of Kim Wilkins and her masterfully-weaved tales of horror, fantasy, sex and death.

“Angel of Ruin” was Kim Wilkins’ fourth novel, and was first published in 2001. Set in London, it tells the story of struggling freelance journalist Sophie Cabrel. With Halloween approaching, she decides to write a piece on London’s occult scene, and in the course of her research, she meets bookstore owner Neal Gardiner and joins his ritual magic group, the Lodge of the Seven Stars. Through the group, she hears about “The Wanderer”, an old woman with a story to tell and cursed with a burden to find a listener for her tale. Once she finds a willing audience and imparts her story, the curse will be passed onto whoever hears her tale to its end.

Sceptical, but convinced that she has found an enticing angle for her article, Sophie tracks down The Wanderer and, ignoring all the warnings, she listens to the mysterious woman’s story. It is the tale of three sisters in seventeenth century London, whose love for each other is ripped apart by an angel. Their father just happens to be author John Milton, and thus Sophie is drawn into the world of Paradise Lost, the plague, the Great Fire of London, and the war in Heaven.

The magic of Kim Wilkins’ writing is her ability to interweave history with the modern day, building a tense and engrossing narrative that captures both eras expertly. Her prior novels, “The Infernal”, “Grimoire”, and “The Resurrectionists” similarly weave the past and the present together in clever and intricate ways. However, for me, it is in “Angel of Ruin” that Wilkins’ genius reaches its pinacle. It is rich in historical detail, emotive, exciting, sexy, and no matter how many times I read it, I still find my pulse racing and my eyes welling up.

Kim Wilkins writes the kinds of novels I have always wanted to write myself and, while my own collection of short erotica stories was very much influenced by my love of her work, I can only dream of being able to write as well as her, and to construct the kind of rich narratives that make her books so enthralling. Though her novels are, sadly, difficult to get hold of these days, it is well worth the hunt. I dare say you will, like me, find yourself utterly swept away into the worlds Kim Wilkins so masterfully creates.

Kim Wilkins also writes Children’s and Young Adult Fiction, Short Stories, and writes Women’s Fiction as Kimberly Freeman.

Links:

Kim Wilkins’ Goodreads Author Page

Hexebart’s Well- Kim Wilkins’ Official Site

Jupiter Grant is a self-published author, blogger, narrator and audiobook producer.

Enquiries and comments are always welcome. You can also find me on Twitter @GrantJupiter

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