The heroine of the story (described only as 'I') is compelled to visit a mysterious uncle who turns out to be a black magician who lords over a kind of Prospero's Island that exists out of time and space. Startled by his bizarre behaviour and odd nocturnal movements she eventually learns that he is searching for the philosopher's stone. When his sinister attentions fall upon the priceless jewel heirloom in her possession, bewilderment turns into stark terror and she realises she must find a way off the island...An esoteric dreamworld fantasy composed of uncorrelated scenes and imagery mostly derived from Medieval occuit sources, Goose of Hermogenes might be described as a gothic novel, an occult picaresque or a surrealist fantasy. However one wants to approach this obscure tale, it remains today as vividly unforgettable and disturbing as when it was first published by Peter Owen in 1961.