Description

The legendary Edna O’Brien’s tale of a mysterious stranger spellbinding an Irish village is ‘the kind of masterpiece that reminds you why you read books in the first place’ (Observer).

ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES’ TOP 100 NOVELS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

‘Magnificent’ (Sunday Times)
‘Beautiful’ (Financial Times)
‘Enthralling’ (Times)
‘Extraordinary’ (Independent)
‘Astonishing’ (New Yorker)

When a man who calls himself a faith healer arrives in a small, west-coast Irish village, the community is soon under the spell of this charismatic stranger from the Balkans. One woman in particular, Fidelma McBride, becomes enthralled in a fatal attraction that leads to unimaginable consequences.

‘One of the most interesting and ambitious [books] ever written by an Irish author.’ (Irish Times)
‘One of the greatest Irish writers, of this or any era.’ (Sunday Independent)