Titus Awakes

About the Authors

Born in 1918, Maeve Gilmore was a painter, sculptor and writer. She married Mervyn Peake, author of the Gormenghast novels, in 1937 and they had three children. She is the author of A World Away, an account of her life with Peake. Anthony Burgess wrote of that book, ‘it is impossible not to be moved by Maeve Gilmore’s memoir . . . The moral of Gilmore’s exquisite and poignant book is that life is hell, but we had better be grateful for the consolations of love and art.’ Gilmore died in 1983.

Mervyn Peake (1911–1968) was a playwright, painter, poet, illustrator, short story writer, and designer of theatrical costumes, as well as a novelist. Among his many books are Gormenghast, Titus Groan and Titus Alone.