At her landlady’s birthday dinner, prompted by the others, Helen begins to tell her friends about her darkest secret.

Sarah Perry's contemporary novel set in Prague, inspired by an original Gothic story.

Melmoth the Witness is a terrifying and yet moving creation who repels and attracts our sympathies simultaneously. The novel explores some of humanity’s darkest actions, asks us to consider our deepest secrets and conveys the importance of bearing witness to unspeakable events.

At the same time, it's also a novel of redemption, of the possibility of forgiveness, hope and reconciliation, and the healing power of love.

Abridged in by Jeremy Osborne.

Read by Greta Scacchi and Anton Lesser.

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in October 2018. Show less