Dame Edith Sitwell, wit, notorious eccentric and poet, is not normally thought of as a novelist. But her only novel, I Live Under a Black Sun, is a true forgotten classic. Garlanded with extravagant praise on its release, it was reprinted several times but fell into neglect and has now been out of print for almost fifty years. The novel is a fictionalized biography of Jonathan Swift and his tragic relationships with 'Stella' and 'Vanessa', updated to a time during and after the First World War. Luxurious, angular and poetic, it is a novel unlike any other. This year is the 40th anniversary of Sitwell's death and a perfect time to rediscover this unique work.