Book
The Gabriel Hounds
First published 1967
Christy Mansel interrupts her travels in the Middle East to visit her reclusive great-aunt Harriet, who has established herself in Dar Ibrahim, a decaying palace above Beirut. The household’s elaborate rules, nocturnal noises and refusal to allow ordinary access to Harriet make the visit feel less like eccentric hospitality than confinement.
Joined by her cousin Charles, Christy investigates the palace’s hidden passages and the identity of the woman behind its guarded rooms. The novel combines Gothic architecture with the cosmopolitan mobility of 1960s Lebanon, exposing a scheme sustained by impersonation, narcotics and family dependence.
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