A beautiful, magical novel.
Jill Paton Walsh was educated at St Michael's Convent, North Finchley, and at St Anne's College, Oxford. She is the author of several highly praised adult novels- Lapsing, A School For Lovers, Knowledge of Angels, which was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize, Goldengrove Unleaving, The Serpentine Cave and A Desert in Bohemia. She has also won many awards for her children's literature, including the Whitbread Prize, the Universe Prize and the Smarties Award. She has three children and lives in Cambridge.
'A compelling medieval fable, written from the heart and melded to
a driving narrative which never once loses its tremendous pace'
*Guardian*
'An irresistible blend of intellect and passion'
*Mail on Sunday*
'This remarkable novel resembles an illuminated manuscript mapped
with angels and mountains and signposts, an allegory for today and
yesterday too. A beautiful, unsettling moral fiction about virtue
and intolerance'
*Observer*
'Remarkable...Utterly absorbing...richly detailed and finely
imagined'
*Sunday Telegraph*
'The lucidity of Jill Paton Walsh's style and the dexerity of the
narrative are such that her book reads more like a good thriller
than a weighty novel of ideas...An ingenious fable'
*The Times*
YA-A gripping, grim morality tale that's hard to put down and even harder to forget. It is set during a time of religious fervor on a Mediterranean island peopled with a wide variety of well-developed characters, including a lost prince, a child raised by wolves, and the priestly ruler. The island's proximity and ties to Rome are evident in the lives of the townspeople, clerics, nuns, monks, and even the servants. Christianity in its narrowest guise predominates, and the two islanders who are ``unknown,'' the wolf-child and the lost prince, are ultimately judged by these constricting standards. There are many likable characters, and there is much theological philosophy discussed in intriguing detail, mostly by a monk who contemplates what angels know and how they know it. There is also, however, a captivating plot. Be aware that this is far different from the spate of angel ``stuff'' that is out today, a darker but more encompassing description of ``the knowledge of angels.'' Although the ending is slightly disappointing, getting there is a compelling and thought-provoking journey, and well worth the trip.-Susan H. Woodcock, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
In her first book for adults, veteran children's author Walsh deals with the quandaries that result when human try to come to grips with the divine. Set on an island off the coast of Europe during the Middle Ages, her novel revolves around a ``wild child'' rescued form wolves and a shipwrecked prince rescued from the sea only to be accused of heresy by the Inquisition. The prince, an atheist, will not compromise his beliefs to satisfy his accusers. The child is set up as a test case; if she, untaught, shows any awareness of God, the prince is condemned. Walsh's simple, direct prose paints pictures as bright and detailed as those in a medieval Book of Hours, and the plight of Prince Palinor, rescued from drowning only to face death by fire, is compelling. Readers who enjoy novels of ideas will find this a satisfying choice.-- Beth Ann Mills, New Rochelle P.L., N.Y.
'A compelling medieval fable, written from the heart and melded to
a driving narrative which never once loses its tremendous pace' *
Guardian *
'An irresistible blend of intellect and passion' * Mail on Sunday
*
'This remarkable novel resembles an illuminated manuscript mapped
with angels and mountains and signposts, an allegory for today and
yesterday too. A beautiful, unsettling moral fiction about virtue
and intolerance' * Observer *
'Remarkable...Utterly absorbing...richly detailed and finely
imagined' * Sunday Telegraph *
'The lucidity of Jill Paton Walsh's style and the dexerity of the
narrative are such that her book reads more like a good thriller
than a weighty novel of ideas...An ingenious fable' * The Times *
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