Gormenghast (novel) adaptations, including film, live theatre, radio performances, television serials, and an opera. Gormenghast (novel) Gormenghast is a fantasy novel by British writer Mervyn Peake, the second in his Gormenghast series. It is the story of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Groan and Lord of Gormenghast Castle, from age 7 to 17. As the story opens, Titus dreads the pre-ordained life of ritual that stretches before him. To Titus, Master of Ritual Barquentine and his apprentice Steerpike are the embodiment of all he wants to rebel against. An important sub-plot involves Titus at school, where he encounters the professors, especially Bellgrove,
Mervyn Peake contract to depict various factory subjects and was also asked to submit a large painting showing RAF pilots being debriefed. Some of these paintings are on permanent display in Manchester Art Gallery whilst other examples are in the Imperial War Museum collection. The five years between 1943 and 1948 were some of the most productive of his career. He finished "Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast" and completed some of his most acclaimed illustrations for books by other authors, including Lewis Carroll's "Hunting of the Snark" (for which he was reportedly paid only £5) and "Alice in Wonderland", Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The