Sister Sebastian's Library
Will be published approx. on 15. September 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-78463-078-2 (ISBN)
Description
All is not what it seems in this gripping novel about two sisters' lives: one who leaves her secular Catholic life to become a nun in deepest Africa, and her sister who goes to search for her when she goes missing.
Elodie O'Shea abandons her children to her estranged husband to go on the search for her sister, Bridie. What she uncovers reveals as much about herself, her marriage and her family than her missing sibling.
Sister Sebastian's Library is a deeply moving exploration of relationships, loyalty and trust. With quiet confidence and perfectly pitched prose, Phil Whitaker challenges our understanding of the essentials that make us human.
Elodie O'Shea abandons her children to her estranged husband to go on the search for her sister, Bridie. What she uncovers reveals as much about herself, her marriage and her family than her missing sibling.
Sister Sebastian's Library is a deeply moving exploration of relationships, loyalty and trust. With quiet confidence and perfectly pitched prose, Phil Whitaker challenges our understanding of the essentials that make us human.
Reviews / Votes
This gripping, evocative novel. -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail * Phil Whitaker's fifth novel, Sister Sebastian's Library is about family, regrets and responsibility, and what we do with the chance to start again. -- Anne Goodwin * annethology * This novel about two sisters addresses the permanent themes of relationships, loyalty and trust. As one sister, Bridie, leaves her secular Catholic life to become a nun in Africa, and her sister Elodie sets out to look for her when she goes missing, the reader learns of Elodie's own journey of self-discovery. As she concludes on her return flight: 'Down there, somewhere, were human beings doing things out of hatred; many others down things out of love. And most, like Bridie and her, contending with the mess and muddle that lies between.' * Catholic Herald * While maintaining the fast-paced missing-person investigation, Whitaker also manages to weave in a separate timeline of Elodie's memories of her sister. There are snapshots of their parents' abusive marriage, an awkward 18th-birthday disco and euphoric experiences watching the electronic dance act Faithless. In these scenes from past lives, the complexities of sisterly strife are presented on a vividly human scale. -- Caroline Crampton * New Statesman *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
271 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78463-078-2 (9781784630782)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Phil Whitaker's critically acclaimed novels have won him the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Encore Award, a Betty Trask Award, and a shortlisting for the Whitbread First Novel Award. He lives in Somerset with his wife, their children, and the family dog. As well as writing fiction, Phil is a practising doctor and author of the fortnightly 'Health Matters' column in the New Statesman. You is his sixth novel.