She says that she actually saw Bartholomew meet a noble lady who took them all inside a strange floating craft (which she calls 'the maggot'). Rebecca's own testimony admits this was a deception to quiet Jones. Rebecca's initial tale, retold by Jones, is that he there performed a satanic ritual, and Rebecca herself was raped by Satan and forced to view a panorama of human suffering and cruelty. He takes Rebecca and Dick to a cave in a remote area. Variations of his story are (1) he was on his way to elope against the wishes of family (2) he was visiting a wealthy, aged aunt to secure an inheritance from her (3) he was seeking a cure for impotence (4) he was pursuing some scientific or occult knowledge, possibly concerning knowledge of the future. The interviews reveal that Bartholomew had hired the party to travel with him but deceived them about the purpose of his journey. The subsequent interviews are conducted by Henry Ayscough, a lawyer employed by Bartholomew's father, who is a Duke. We learn from a fictional news story that a man has been found hanged near the place where the travellers were staying. Eventually the narration stops and is followed by letters, interview transcripts, and snatches of more third-person narration, interspersed with facsimile pages from contemporary issues of The Gentleman's Magazine. Bartholomew calls his supposed uncle 'Lacy' and they discuss Bartholomew's refusal to disclose his journey's secret purpose, as well as fate versus free will.

The 'maid' Louise casually rebuffs the sexual advances of the servant, Dick Thurlow, but then goes to his master's room and undresses before them both. They arrive at an inn in a small village, and soon it becomes clear that they are not who they seem to be. The book opens with an objective narration about a group of five travellers travelling through Exmoor in rural England. Because of the narrative style and various metafictional devices, most critics classify it as a postmodern novel. It might be variously classified as historical fiction, mystery, or science fiction. Though the author denied that A Maggot is a historical novel, it does take place during a precise historical timeframe, April 1736 to March 1737, in England. Another meaning of the word 'maggot' becomes apparent later in the novel, used by a character to describe a white, oblong machine that appears to be a spacecraft. Its title, as the author explains in the prologue, is taken from the archaic sense of the word that means 'whim', 'quirk', 'obsession', or even a snatch of music (see earworm). It is Fowles' sixth major novel, following The Collector, The Magus, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Daniel Martin and Mantissa. A Maggot (1985) is a novel by British author John Fowles.

A maggot fowles