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Devotion

Autor Ros Barber
en Limba Engleză Paperback – 19 apr 2016
"Barber's sensational premise delivers an unexpectedly piercing exploration of loss and different kinds of faith."
— Kirkus Reviews

The new novel from the award-winning author of THE MARLOWE PAPERS,
winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize, and long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2013


It is the near future, and moves have been made to classify religious fundamentalism as a form of mental illness. Criminal psychologist Finlay Logan must assess the sanity of a young woman who has committed a religiously-inspired atrocity, but in a state of grief after the death of his daughter, he is struggling with his own mental stability.

In an attempt to reach his patient, an elective mute, Logan seeks the help of Gabrielle Salmon, a cognitive scientist whose experimental procedure — “the process” — is said to alleviate guilt, shame and suffering by creating a direct experience with God.

After seeing the results of “the process” in his patient, Finlay must choose either to medicate his grief or undergo “the process” to try to save himself.

With nimble, provocative thinking at the intersection of science and religion — as well as brilliant storytelling through use of a dual narrative — award-winning author Ros Barber creates a daring novel
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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9781780749211
ISBN-10: 178074921X
Pagini: 288
Dimensiuni: 130 x 200 x 23 mm
Greutate: 0.27 kg
Editura: Oneworld Publications
Colecția Oneworld Publications
Locul publicării:United Kingdom

Recenzii

"Barber's poetic prose is a sheer pleasure to read, and because of her skill, the book is a rewarding meditation on the tragedies that motivate or destroy a person's reasons for living."
— Publishers Weekly

"In a novel that examines the divide between skepticism and religion, Barber (The Marlowe Papers, 2012, etc.) uses the sweeping ideas of faith and science to delve into the story of a man struggling with the ever incomprehensible force of grief. Finlay Logan is a criminal psychologist in a near-future England where popular opinion and government action are pushing to classify religious fundamentalism as a mental illness. While investigating the medically defined sanity of April Smith, a teenager who committed a shocking atrocity inspired by her religious beliefs, Logan finds himself grappling with his own tenuous grip on mental health. Nearly destroyed by grief after the accidental death of his adored daughter, Logan seeks perverse solace in an excess of work and a growing gulf of misunderstanding between him and his wife. Despite his efforts, he struggles to connect with April enough to assess her sanity and turns to the alluring Gabrielle Salmon, a cognitive scientist who studies consciousness, induces spiritual experiences with lab equipment, and claims to have been in contact with the dead. Logan's professional interest in belief becomes an intensely personal choice between pharmaceutical and religious salvation. The novel splits into alternate storylines based on his decision, playing with motifs borrowed from quantum mechanics. It survives this brutal division, bolstered by Logan's fascinatingly miserable character, so finely drawn in competing urges. He is manipulative, unfaithful, dubious, and yet often motivated by the irreproachable urge of love. Though Barber sometimes veers into absurdly extended metaphors, that excess occasionally uncovers extraordinarily beautiful and piercing images that solidify a story of the ineffable. "Her eyes open painfully wide, and in a blink, two teary blinks, are emptied of love and stuffed to their lids with shock." Barber's sensational premise delivers an unexpectedly piercing exploration of loss and different kinds of faith."
—Kirkus Reviews

"The focus may be on the eternal questions but it is Barber’s ability to capture the small details of humanity that makes DEVOTION worth the read."
—The Financial Times

"Compelling ... a novel so animated with fascinating, troubling ideas."
— The Guardian

"Intelligent, poetic writing ... Barber weaves together the struggles of these complex characters with taut, high-stakes encounters in episodic chapters, making this a pacy novel in spite of the weighty subject matter; and barely a word is misplaced."
—Times Literary Supplement

"Barber's prose is compelling and she brings real sympathy to Logan's character in particular."
— The Independent

Notă biografică

Dr. Ros Barber is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning The Marlowe Papers. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, lecturer in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Director of Research at the Shakespearean Authorship Trust. She has been visiting lecturer at Brunel, Kent, and Notts Trent Universities. She lives in Brighton.