Their dysfunctional relationship with one another translates through their relationship with their servants and subjects. The main protagonists in the story are the Groan family Lady Fuchsia, Titus’ older sister, Lord Sepulchrave, the seventy-sixth and current Earl and the Countess. The story flows well with the help of characters such as Flay who almost acts as unwitting guide to the reader around the castle and the other players in this tale. The beginning of the book certainly grabs your attention as the story begins outside the walls of Gormenghast Castle with the dwellers and draws you in with the birth of Titus to his most unconventional mother, the Countess Gertrude. There are also touches of real affection and lots of subtle humour. The events, which lead up to the ‘Earling’ of little Titus, involve treachery, greed, murder, madness and revenge. The story covers the first two years of Titus’ young life, from birth to his investiture as the seventy-seventh Earl and everything that happens in the Kingdom of Gormenghast during this time. Titus Groan is the Seventy Seventh Earl of Gormenghast in waiting and his birth begins this story and that of his rather eccentric family, their servants and the kingdom of Gormenghast itself.

Gormenghast titus groan