Sanctuary

The novel that shocked even Faulkner. The book he said he wrote “for money.” The story that proved horror lives not in the dark—but in broad daylight.

William Faulkner’s most controversial novel is a brutal, brilliant, and deeply disturbing tale of corruption, violence, and the hollow heart of the modern South.

Temple Drake, a young woman from a respectable Mississippi family, is taken to a bootlegger’s hideout after a night of drinking. There, she falls into the hands of Popeye, a small, sinister, impotent gangster who rapes her with a corncob. She does not escape. She stays. She becomes his. The novel moves from the hideout to the courtroom to the final, devastating image of Temple, now a respectable wife, lying to protect the man who destroyed her. Horace Benbow, a disillusioned lawyer, tries to save her. He cannot. The novel ends with Popeye, arrested for a murder he did not commit, walking to the gallows—and asking, in a voice that has lost all emotion, to be buried facing the sun.

This is Faulkner at his most savage and unforgettable: a novel about the banality of evil, the corruption of the law, and the woman who becomes a sanctuary for violence—and then refuses to be saved.

• Published in 1931, Faulkner’s first commercial success

• Faulkner famously said he wrote it “for money,” but it is now recognized as a key work in his canon

• The novel’s original version, Sanctuary: The Original Text, was published in 1981, restoring passages cut by editors

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

• Ebook: DRM-free EPUB compatible with Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and all major e-readers.

• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears—or the perfect gift for anyone who knows that the worst horrors happen in the places we call home.

About the Author

William Faulkner (1897–1962) was an American novelist and short story writer, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, he spent most of his life in Oxford, Mississippi, the model for his fictional Yoknapatawpha County. His major works include The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), Light in August (1932), Absalom, Absalom! (1936), and Sanctuary (1931). Faulkner wrote Sanctuary quickly, after struggling with its predecessor, The Sound and the Fury. He later claimed he wrote it “for money,” and it was indeed his first commercial success. However, he also said, “I wrote it in three weeks, and I didn’t think much of it. But I was wrong.” The novel’s depiction of sexual violence and corruption shocked readers—and still does. Faulkner received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and the Pulitzer Prize twice. He died of a heart attack in 1962.