The Gentleman: A Novel

(Paperback)

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When Lionel Savage, a popular poet in Victorian London, accidently sells his beloved and wealthy wife to the devil after meeting him at a party, he plans a rescue mission to Hell with a host of colourful characters. Lionel and his friends encounter trapdoors, duels, anarchist-fearing bobbies, the social pressure of not knowing enough about art history and the poisonous wit of his poetical archenemy. Fresh, action-packed and very, very funny, The Gentleman is a giddy farce that recalls the masterful confections of P.G. Wodehouse and Herge's Tintin adventures.

Reviews

"A funny and charming romp, cheerfully wearing its influences -- Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, Jack Pendarvis, Christopher Moore, and Monty Python -- like arm garters. I thoroughly enjoyed this frothy, sweet story that reaffirms the romantic notions behind love and storytelling." --Glen David Gold, author of Carter Beats the Devil

A new favorite of mine is Forrest Leos debutThe Gentleman, a Victorian-era adventure if Lizzie Bennet were held hostage by David Lynch and Mel Brooks. Hilarious, devious, and totally entertaining, its not one to miss. Planet Jackson Hole

A fast-paced, comedic farce through hellFans of steampunk and Lemony Snicket will love this one.KQED.org

[A] deliciously snarky storyI'm reminded of Glen David Golds Carter Beats the Devil and W.E. Bowman's classic parody The Ascent of Rum Doodle, although for my money, Leo's writing is even more hilarious.Alaska Dispatch News

Farcical, tongue-in-cheek and often just plain silly,The Gentleman pays homage to late Victorian melodrama and in its tone aspires to a P.G. Wodehouse-like insouciance[It] does provide consistent amusement for an idle eveningOn several occasions, Leo who is only in his mid-20s nearly approaches Wodehouse in the zing of his similes.Washington Post

A lighthearted comedy of errors that never takes itself too seriously, The Gentleman is a delight.BookRiot

Wonderfully demented and comicalIts rather as if Tom Holt and Oscar Wilde got together and decided to do up a steampunk noveltyVain, self-centered, whiny, hyperbolic, Lionel is nonetheless a captivating raconteur, and reading this book, one falls fully under his hilarious tale-telling prowessThis novel displays a kind of timeless quality that will ensure a long life for it. It might have appeared in the pages ofPunch, circa 1886. Or on an augmented-reality tablet in the year 2086. Whenever you encounter it, you will be guaranteed a robust, riotous romp.Locus Mag

If you have a soft spot for whimsical Victorian pastichesThe Gentlemanis your perfect end-of-summer readAll in all a complete pleasure.Vox

Leo has a whimsical giftHis characters are rich with personality and eccentricityLeo brings [them] to life with charm, wit, and pomp, and he builds a fully realizedif not a little wackyVictorian London teeming with adventure and mysteryAnd yet, so much of the novels great appeal comes from the hilariously realistic way in which it depicts the quirkiness of writers, the idiosyncratic relationships between them, and the painstaking work of their editors.Electric Literature

This novel weaves together a brilliant sense of voice, a classic comedic touch thats as potent as it is gentle, and a group of characters that could just as easily exist in a Monty Pythons Flying Circus sketch as they could in a P.G. Wodehouse novel. With his first book, Leo delivers us a story thats entertaining on about a dozen different levels, and he does it with a sense of joy that imbues his often self-serious narrator with a quality that makes every page lovableEndlessly brisk, charming, and most importantly, clever[The] charactersseem both wholly original yet clearly carved out of the page of a thumping good potboiler. Its a marriage of old and new thats never tiring, and it makes for a delightful page-turner.BookPage

With lively illustrations by Mahendra Singhthis debut Victorian steampunk novel is a fun romp with witty wordplay, a diverse array of quirky characters, and a surprisingly lovely ending.Library Journal

RiotousIn his debut, Leo does an inspired job of parodying the conventions of Victorian fiction. Hilarious dialogue, a Pythonesque sense of the absurd, and comical complications worthy of Thorne Smith at his devlish best round out the tale.Publishers Weekly

"A funny and charming romp, cheerfully wearing its influences -- Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, Jack Pendarvis, Christopher Moore, and Monty Python -- like arm garters. I thoroughly enjoyed this frothy, sweet story that reaffirms the romantic notions behind love and storytelling." --Glen David Gold, author of Carter Beats the Devil


An effervescent book with a cheerfully lunatic plot. Cavalier, funny, and totally engrossing. Its a delicious crumpet of a novel that will leave you wondering if Forrest Leo drinks tea with the devil.Sara Levine, author of Treasure Island!!!

Let us all bow down before the nutty and delightful romp that is The Gentleman. An assured stylist tells a hilarious story with perfect pacing and aplomb: yes, please.Henry Alford, author of Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That: A Modern Guide to Manners

Simultaneously very strange and very familiar, The Gentleman has all the right echoes and influences the scientific romance, the postmodernist novel, the comedy of manners. Its witty and erudite, with great whiffs of Wells and Wilde and Wodehouse all of it beautifully combined, with one of the best opening sentences Ive read in years. Go onopen up!Geoff Nicholson, author of The Lost Art of Walking


"This book has everything great: lazy aristocrats, a butler, the Devil, a slutty kid sister, duels and near duels, Arctic expeditions and Scotland Yard. An eccentric neo-Victorian romp told with fun and energy." -Steve Hely, Thurber Award-winning author of How I Became a Famous Novelist

"Such little hope for poor Mr. Savage! A poet at war with the literary masters of his age finds himself unable to write a single line. In an unwitting trade with The Devil, he turns over his wife in hopes of regaining his museThe book's pageant of arch and hilarious characters manages to rescue our defeated hero. The verdict of this thrilling, fantastic novel True love will find you in the end." -Michael Dahlie, PEN/Hemingway Award winning author of A Gentlemans Guide to Graceful Living and The Best of Youth

Forrest Leos The Gentleman is a bonbon of liberated Victoriana, a Faustian tale of poetic innovation and ineptitude, and a swashbuckling quest to make a romantic hevn of domestic hell. Youll fall for Lionel Savage, Leos charmingly ignominious protagonist, and the wittily drawn friends and relations who work toward his improvement.-Dylan Hicks, author of Amateurs and Boarded Windows

Author Bio

Forrest Leo was born in 1990 on a homestead in remote Alaska, where he grew up without running water and took a dogsled to school. He holds a BFA in drama from New York University, and has worked as a carpenter, and a photographer, and in a cubicle.