Sanctuary Author:William Faulkner "The most horrific tale I could imagine" -- thus William Faulkner described the genesis of his most violent and brutal novel. Certainly Santuary contains much that verges on the lurid: murder, rape, abduction, sexual depravity, lynching, in settings ranging from a decayed plantation to a Memphis brothel to a tense courtroom. But there is some... more »thing else in this novel as well: the extraordinary genius of its author. Temple Drake, young, beautiful and corrupt; Popeye, the psychopathic criminal who is both her violator and her victim; Horace Benbow, the honest lawyer and man of good will who cannot cope with either the viciousness of society or with his own darker urges; these and the other brilliantly imagined characters are illumined by a verbal artistry and a moral vision without equal. Begun as a "shocker", Sanctuary was transformed into a masterpiece of fiction. With an Introduction by Allen Tate.« less
Content warning for violence, alcohol use, and sexual violence. I could not finish it. It's very well written; if you're not sensitive to these topics you may want to read it.