Fourth Mansions

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**Fourth Mansions**
Author	R. A. Lafferty
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Variously described as science fiction, supernatural fiction, or dramatic fantasy
Publisher	Ace Publishing Corporation
Released	1969
Media Type	Print (Paperback & Hardback)
Pages	252 pp
ISBN	NA

Fourth Mansions is a novel by American author R. A. Lafferty, first published in 1969. In 1970, it was nominated for the "Best Novel" Nebula Award.

Fourth Mansions was inspired by Teresa of Ávila's Interior Castle, and contains quotations from the book, which quotations Lafferty uses as chapter headings. The Interior Castle is a metaphor for an individual's soul (hence the word 'interior'); its different rooms, different states of the soul. In the middle of the Castle the soul is in the purest state, which equals Heaven. Lafferty uses more complex symbols to bring colorfully into life his many-sided tale of an individual's reaching towards Heaven or Truth.

[edit] Plot

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[edit] Release details

Lafferty, R. A. [1969] (1969). Fourth Mansions (softcover), 1st edition (in English), New York: Ace Publishing Corporation, 252. OCLC: 857772.
Lafferty, R. A. [1969] (1972). Fourth Mansions (in English). London: D. Dobson (part of Dobson science fiction series), 252. ISBN 0234776536; OCLC: 5950330.
Lafferty, R. A. [1969] (1977). Fourth Mansions (softcover) (in English), London: W.H. Allen (a star book), 252. ISBN 0352396156; OCLC: 11140931.
Lafferty, R. A. [1969] (1988). Fourth Mansions (softcover) (in English), New York: Bart Books, 252. ISBN 1557850488; OCLC: 20384448.
Lafferty, R. A. [1969] (1999). Fourth Mansions (softcover), Wildside edition (in English), Berkeley Heights, New Jersey; or Gillette, NJ: Wildside Press (Wildside science fiction series), 252. ISBN 1-880448-96-3.