We’re very happy to share the news, in case you missed it, that Jonathan Carroll‘s THE LAND OF LAUGHS is available in a new Chinese edition! Published by 漫遊者文化 事業股份有限公司, as 歡笑國度, it was translated by 章晉唯. Here’s the synopsis…

湯瑪士是一個平凡的英文老師，長期活在電影巨星父親的陰影下。某天湯瑪士決定休個長假寫書，寫自己最愛的童書作家馬修・法蘭斯的傳記。那是他自小以來心靈的寄託與歸宿。但法蘭斯行蹤隱密，關於他的生平大家知之甚少，而作家過世多年以來，想為之立傳的人，都被他女兒安娜轟出門外。但湯瑪士不死心，和同樣喜歡法蘭斯的新女友千里迢迢前往密蘇里州的鄉下小鎮，那裡正是作家的故鄉。

然而，當他們風塵僕僕抵達，卻發現一切都和想像的不一樣……

鎮民熱烈歡迎，安娜居然也親切接待，甚至對湯瑪士寫傳記一事興致勃勃，帶他到處走訪父親生前最愛的地點。不過，兩人在鎮上住下後，逐漸發現這裡有些不對勁……墓園裡的名字都是法蘭斯筆下人物，養的狗都是他喜歡的牛頭㹴，這個小鎮彷彿是作家的靈感來源。當安娜終於答應授權湯瑪士寫傳記後，鎮上卻接二連三發生怪事，他開始在鎮民臉上看見小說角色的面孔，有天還聽見了狗在說話……

在這個每個人都友善又快樂的神祕小鎮裡，鎮民到底在隱瞞些什麼？事實的真相令人毛骨悚然……

First published in 1980, THE LAND OF LAUGHS won the Prix Tour-Apollo Award in 1989. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Have you ever loved a magical book above all others? Have you ever wished the magic were real? Welcome to The Land of Laughs. A novel about how terrifying that would be.

Schoolteacher Thomas Abbey, unsure son of a film star, doesn’t know who he is or what he wants — in life, in love, or in his relationship with the strange and intense Saxony Gardner. What he knows is that in his whole life nothing has touched him so deeply as the novels of Marshall France, a reclusive author of fabulous children’s tales who died at forty-four.

Now Thomas and Saxony have come to France’s hometown, the dreamy Midwestern town of Galen, Missouri, to write France’s biography. Warned in advance that France’s family may oppose them, they’re surprised to find France’s daughter warmly welcoming instead. But slowly they begin to see that something fantastic and horrible is happening. The magic of Marshall France has extended far beyond the printed page… leaving them with a terrifying task to undertake.

Carroll’s latest novel is the highly-acclaimed MR. BREAKFAST — out now, published by Melville House.