The Blasphemer
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD & A RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD & A RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK
FOR FANS OF ATONEMENT, BIRDSONG, IN MEMORIAM AND ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE
'A book that won't leave your fingernails intact...a terrifically exciting and thought-provoking must-read' DAILY MAIL
'A great achievement...To take on the First World War and make it fresh is remarkable.' MELVYN BRAGG
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On its way to the Galapagos Islands, a light aircraft ditches into the sea. As the water floods through the cabin, zoologist Daniel Kennedy faces an impossible choice – should he save himself, or Nancy, the woman he loves?
In a parallel narrative, it is 1917 and Daniel’s great-grandfather Andrew is preparing to go over the top at Passchendaele. He, too, will have his courage tested, and must live with the moral consequences of his actions.
When Daniel returns to London, the past and the present collide, as Daniel tries to make sense of something he saw while swimming to safety that he cannot explain. Indeed nothing will make sense - either for Daniel or his great-grandfather - until they prove themselves capable of altruism, and deserving of forgiveness.
It is a question of courage. It is a question of love. It is a question of having the faith to endure...
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Readers say:
'Really gripping ... I recommend it very warmly to anyone who likes an involving, intelligent, thoughtful and thought-provoking read.'
'A beautifully constructed and written novel with some very fine touches and linked themes...quite remarkable for a first work'
'The author treats the reader with intelligence and offers an intricate tale with convincing, flawed characters making difficult choices and dealing with the consequences'
'Really superb...Usually I feel you have to choose a book that is ether a page turning immersive read OR has beautiful writing and thought provoking themes. It is rare to find a book that provides both. The Blasphemer is that book.'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In British author Farndale's elegant meditation on morality (among many other topics), Daniel Kennedy, a biologist specializing in worms, is convinced that the universe is godless until the plane carrying him and his partner, Nancy, to the Galapagos Islands crashes in the ocean. In his desperate scramble to escape the sinking plane, he pushes Nancy out of the way, though he later returns to rescue her. While the primary plot concerns Daniel and Nancy's efforts to come to terms with their near-death experience, as well as Daniel's betrayal, which Nancy can neither forget nor forgive, this ambitious novel interweaves several other narratives, one involving Daniel's grandfather in WWI (the author brilliantly evokes trench warfare), and another focused on what may be an original manuscript of part of Mahler's "unfinished" symphony. A third subplot focuses on the couple's nine-year-old daughter and her music teacher, a Muslim, in London. Farndale (A Sympathetic Hanging) can be didactic, but he knows how to tell a terrific story.
