Hearing voices

the long version

In this delightful novel, part mystery and part comedy of manners, A. N. Wilson continues the strange tale of Julian Ramsay, chronicler of that distinguished literary family, the Lampitts. The story opens in the mid-1960s on a note of gruesome drama, as an aged man is pushed to his death from a Manhattan skyscraper. The victim is the fabulously wealthy Virgil D. Everett, pharmaceutical tycoon, lawyer, political activist, and collector of the manuscripts known as the Lampitt Papers. Does Everett's murder have anything to do with his ownership of these papers? Over thirty years later, actor and Lampitt biographer Julian Ramsay finds himself in New York with his "One Man Show" about Lampitt's life and experiences. Ramsay's recollections take us on a fascinating journey back to the late 196Os, encompassing America, England, and Italy at a time of groundbreaking scientific research and intense theological debate. It is a journey that may reveal the secret to Everett's death and, ultimately, the true content of the Lampitt Papers.