Mr. Tasker's gods

"It’s a Gothic novel set in the English countryside, possibly before the First World War, since that isn’t mentioned, though cars trundle up and down the dusty roads. It begins as a rural fable, gets darker and more brutal, and lurches to a grotesque but satisfying ending. Hypocrisy and violence are part of everyday existence, so its quite a bracing read. It has much in common with Thomas Hardy’s Wessex novels, but is much harsher about human nature."-- Vulpes Libris.