This book is composed of three interwoven novellas, the first centred on an ageing art forger; the second on a Portuguese poet, opium addict and collecter; the third told by a well-connected doctor, with a cabinet of venom, and an art gallery on the north Queensland coast.

"The Bath Fugues is a meditation on melancholy and art, in the form of three interwoven novellas, centred respectively on an aging art forger; a Portuguese poet, opium addict and art collector; and a doctor, who has built an art gallery in tropical Queensland. These characters are tied by more than their art, each dealing with questions of deception and discovery, counterfeiting and rewriting, transmission and identity and each stretching the bonds of trust and friendship."--Publisher's website.

Contents: Beckett's bicycle -- Walter's brief -- Sarraute's surgery.