Observatory Mansions was, in better days, the Orme family's country estate. But as the family's fortunes have declined and the nearby city has continued to sprawl, the building is now a decaying apartment building, situated on a traffic circle at the city's edge.
There are still Ormes living in Observatory Mansions. Francis shares one of the apartments with his elderly parents, venturing out only for necessary shopping and to work. He is a street performer; in a white suit and gloves (and Francis has, shall we say, an obsession with his white gloves), he performs as a "statue of whiteness" in the nearby park. It's a perfect job for Francis because it doesn't require him to actually speak to anyone.
And Francis, sad to say, is probably the least eccentric resident of Observatory Mansions (not that there are many left). They are lonely people who've removed themselves from the world -- Miss Higg to her television, Peter Bugg to the book he'll never finish writing. They are, therefore, horrified when a new tenant arrives, a woman who has the nerve to want to meet her new neighbors instead of leaving them alone.
Observatory Mansions is a masterpiece of tone; it just keeps getting stranger and eerier. Carey's characters are grotesque creations, but he presents them with such compassion and understanding that you find yourselves feeling for them even as you're completely creeped out by them. The world he creates is a weird and marvelous place, and while I'm sure that the novel won't be to everyone's taste, it's one of my favorites (this was a re-reading).
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