Gloucestertide

The Princess Tower: A photo essay of Caleb & Lilian's walk through the Mount Olive Cemetery.

Purdeyville: A photo essay of a journey through Cape Gloucester's granite soul.

Gloucestertide, published in 1996, is the first sequel to Gloucesterbook. The book's jacket explains that the Gloucesterman series is a trilogy to be completed by Gloucestermas. The subsequent publication of the introductory volume Prologos turned the series into a projected tetralogy. In terms of thematic architecture, Gloucestertide leans heavily on Gloucesterbook. Taking over from the earlier novel at May 1961, the volume begins by describing Caleb Karcist's continued romantic longing for both Lilian Cloud and Belle Cingani. Karcist's obsessions are making him neglect his pet Vinland Shepherd Ibi-Roi, his playwriting, and his search for his true father. He has also become complacent in his job at the Classic Order of the Vine, where he is supposed to be helping unlock the black box of Parity Corporation. Several events conspire to free him from this torpor. Machine-shop owner Buck Barebones helps him achieve success with the Iso-Recto-Tetrahedron, raising his confidence in Euclidian solutions to the strangely geometric puzzles that Parity and paternity seem to pose. Belle Cingani is now busy working at the Nous, and Lilian Cloud marries her roughneck companion. Finally, Caleb's intellectual interest in his landlady Gloria Keith blossoms into a full-fledged affair. The result is that Caleb is inspired to complete his Gilgamesh play, which is printed in sections amid the scenes of Gloucestertide. Then, complications arise that produce new puzzles. He is evicted from the Keiths' homestead, ending the affair. He moves into the same building as Belle Cingani in East Harbor, but Lilian Cloud also returns to his life unexpectedly. Ibi-Roi starts his own love affair. Reading his mother's long-neglected memoirs brings Caleb tantalizingly close to a breakthrough concerning his paternity. Treachery at the Classic Order of the Vine is uncovered just prior to a crucial meeting of its members. The novel continues to explore many of Gloucesterbook's themes, such as the struggle against personal and societal entropy; the religious and carnal mysteries of conception; and the economic corrosion of all that's meaningful in society. The book is dedicated to the author's brother Peter Bayliss (1930-2007).