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[malabar]

This was Carter's first novel, published in the US as Honeybuzzard. Appearing in 1965, it seems to have dated very little.

A month ago, Ghislaine was raped and her face cut open by her attacker. She knew her own mind and what (and whom) she wanted; and went after it with all her considerable powers of persuasion, enhanced by her perfect, doll-like face and body. But now there's a scar running from the left eyebrow all the way down below her shirt collar. All the men she used to dally with try to avoid her, but she won't let them - all but the man everyone says was responsible for her scar: Honeybuzzard.

There is little here to remind the reader that the story is set more than forty years ago: an absence of HIV references and occasional mention of dates. Maybe this, more than anything else, is what is remarkable about Carter's dark fairy tale.