The Tomb Guardians

As two intellectuals quietly discuss Strigel’s paintings of the guardians at the tomb, their voices blend and clash with the panicked voices of the guards themselves, who have woken up to find the tomb is open and one of their companions is missing. As one group wrestles with the representation of historical truth in art, the other tries to find a way out of a fix. A stunning short novel, which reinvents how we do art history at the same time as it reinvents the novel as a form. PHILIP TERRY (Editor of The Penguin Book of Oulipo) A highly original novel exploring the artistic and political significance of four portraits, which belong to the dawn of Protestantism. A textual performance that can be read in a single sitting, and re-read. The author of Mr. Beethoven (Goldsmiths Prize 2020 shortlist; Walter Scott Prize 2021 longlist; Republic of Consciousness Prize 2021 longlist) sustains this theme: the power of the imagination to unlock historical truth. Griffiths resurrected Beethoven with varied approaches to prose. In The Tomb Guardians, a single infinite conversation is explored without a break. Each of his novels presents readers with new rules, yet the same emotional depth.