Lambs of God
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1.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV MINISERIES
'marvellous' - The New York Times
The flock of nuns and the flock of sheep had been together for so long that the sheep, if they had enough brains to consider the matter at all, thought of the nuns as part of the flock rather than shepherds.
For Iphigenia, Margarita and Carla, the crumbling monastery they live in is their whole world.
They have their daily routines and at their nightly knitting circle, they tell stories - stitching into their work fairy tales and myth. Whatever exists beyond their island home is forgotten.
That is until one day Father Ignatius arrives intent on transforming their forgotten paradise into a luxury resort, complete with a helipad and marina. In an attempt to protect their peaceful existence, the Sisters find themselves willing to do almost anything to save their beloved home...
'Lush and quirky, full of tangled stories, richly comic events and deep symbolism.' - Courier Mail
'The reason for success is clear: Lambs of God is a filmic, intensely sensual book, with a great idea at its core.' - The Weekend Australian
'A novel of wit, suspense and surprises, a disconcerting and potent combination of elements.' - Sunday Age
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A man intrudes on an all but extinct order of pastoral nuns in this intriguing but heavy-handed parable from Australian crime-novelist Day. Sisters Iphigenia, Margarita and Carla live in a ruined monastery on a remote Australian island, tending their only flock: the Agnes sisters, sheep named for nuns who have died. The rhythm of life is seasonal and canonical: washing day, shearing day, Christmas, Lent. It's hard to say what year it is... until Father Ignatius arrives with a cellular phone to assess what he thought was abandoned property. A career churchman, Ignatius wants to turn a profit by transforming the forgotten nunnery into a luxury retreat for businessmen. The story takes a Stephen King turn when the nuns realize that the priest's plans threaten them. Ignatius is drugged with herbal tea, stripped, shaved and plastered up to the waist in a cast. Still, the priest's presence provokes different reactions from each nun, stirring up long-dormant secrets that threaten to tear apart their community. Ignatius himself undergoes something more than a physical transformation as he is forced to reassess the meaning of his mission in the church. Although Day has undeniable storytelling gifts and weaves together an impressive number of storytelling traditions (classical, biblical, Celtic and fairy tale), the novel's rather kitschy setup and often gruesomely graphic feminist symbolism may force even sympathetic readers to share Ignatius's feeling that "There were parts of the story that even he was having trouble swallowing." BOMC, One Spirit Book Club and Quality Paperback Club featured alternate selections; foreign rights sold in the U.K. (Anchor), Australia (Allen & Unwin), Germany (Piper) and the Netherlands (Vassalecci). FYI: Lambs of God has been optioned by Fox 2000, with Winona Ryder as producer and costar.
