The Fennel family papers

the long version

Positioned on the bottom rung of the ladder in a minor South Carolina university's history department, young Professor Paul Danvers shows up at the doorstep of an ancient, decadent, Southern family. Looking to make his reputation from the family's fabled papers, Paul's only hope is to hold on to his spot on the tenure track. Soon, though, he finds himself holding on to dear life. The Fennels, you see, have more than just skeletons in their closet. You've heard the expression, "publish or perish"? William Baldwin takes it literally in this ribald, darkly comic new novel. Before you can say gimme tenure, the Fennel family has sucked the young historian into its maw of eccentricity, malevolence, incest, miscegenation, and possession by spirits. To survive, Paul must withstand voodoo hexes, sex with a ghost, and combat with a charming homicidal maniac.