The hill of dreams

Originally published in 1897, this is a new edition with a preface by Lord Dunsany. The Hill of Dreams is a semi-autobiographical novel by the Welsh writer Arthur Machen and his quest for beauty through literature, love, drugs and dreams. The novel recounts the life of a young man, Lucian Taylor, focusing on his dreamy childhood in rural Wales, in a town based on Caerleon. The Hill of Dreams of the title is an old Roman fort where Lucian has strange sensual visions, including ones of the town in the time of Roman Britain. Later, Lucian attempts to make a living as an author in London, enduring poverty and suffering in the pursuit of art and history.