Titus Groan the stultified Gormenghast society. Steerpike is Machiavellian in his rise, but he can also appear charming and sometimes even noble. The novel begins as the imperious and ritual-driven servant Mr. Flay seeks to tell someone new of the birth of an heir to the House of Groan in a remote part of the sprawling castle of Gormenghast. A son is born to Lord Sepulchrave, Earl of Groan and monarchical ruler of Gormenghast, and his wife, Countess Gertrude. He is named Titus and entrusted to Nannie Slagg by his indifferent mother. Nannie Slagg is an elderly, somewhat senile woman who serves
Titus Awakes of "Titus Awakes" in the family's attic. It follows Titus's journeyings in the wider world and his arrival at an island that Peake identifies as Sark, where the Peake family lived from 1946 to 1949. Finally, Titus becomes Mervyn Peake. The book was published by Overlook Press as "Titus Awakes: The Lost Book of Gormenghast" in June 2011 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Mervyn Peake's birth. Titus Awakes Titus Awakes is the editorial title applied to a novel being planned by Mervyn Peake at the time he became too ill to write, about 1960. It was to have