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Zusatztext “A gripping two-pronged tale of psychological terror and spiritual redemption.” — The New York Post “An intriguing adventure into the unexpected . . . A story filled with unanticipated and thought-provoking turns.” — The Denver Post “Susan Howatch may well become the Trollope of the twentieth century. . . . She is a skilled storyteller.” — The Washington Post Book World “One of the most original novelists writing today.” — Cosmopolitan Informationen zum Autor Susan Howatch was born in 1940. She obtained a law degree from London University and then immigrated to the United States, where she lived for eleven years. During that time she wrote eight novels, including her international bestsellers Penmarric and The Wheel of Fortune . In 1980 she returned to England, where she began to study Church history. The result was the six novels that make up the Starbridge series. In 1993 she made headlines by funding a lectureship in theology and natural science at Cambridge University. Klappentext "A gripping two-pronged tale of psychological terror and spiritual redemption."-The New York Post Successful London lawyer Carter Graham has power, sex appeal, and a well-ordered life. Everything has gone according to plan, including her recent marriage to Kim Betz, an investment banker with the right combination of looks and position. On the surface it appears to be a match made in heaven. The only problem is Kim's ex-wife. Sophie begins to follow Carter like a shadow, making outrageous claims about Kim's involvement in the occult. Convincing herself that Sophie is mad, Carter moves ahead with her life. But something is amiss-and as Sophie's stories are corroborated by other unwelcome disclosures from Kim's past, Carter is thrown into a terrifying web of suspicion and betrayal, pushing her sanity to the edge. In desperation, Carter seeks help from Nicholas Darrow, the charismatic priest of St. Benet's Healing Center. Though a religious skeptic, Carter hopes to stem the tide of darkness that threatens to envelop her life-and begins a compelling journey into the very nature of good and evil, wisdom and redemption. . . .Flirting with the Enemy There is no shortage of highly individualised beliefs. In fact I am constantly amazed at what people do believe; half-remembered bible stories, odd bits of science fiction, snippets of proverbial wisdom passed on through grandmothers or glossy magazines. *** We are bombarded with different beliefs, different values, different customs, different interpretations. Experts give us different and incompatible analyses. We are faced with a kaleidoscope of different images. And the overall effect, I suggest, is to reduce all differences to the same level, to make us immune to real distinctions, to imply that the most we can hope for is not truth but mere opinion. john habgood Confessions of a Conservative Liberal One A helpful exercise is to ask ourselves what our main life-shaping desires are. What do we most want to do and be? What are the priorities we feel most deeply about? david f. ford The Shape of Living I When I first saw my temporary secretary it never occurred to me to flirt with him. Even in 1990, when suing for sexual harassment was still considered to be primarily an American activity, an office flirtation would have been considered unwise for a high flyer, and besides, this particular male hardly struck me as being irresistible. He had curly hair, chocolate-coloured eyes and a chunky, cherubic look. My taste in men has never encompassed overgrown choirboys. Walking into my office I found him stooped over my computer, and since I was not expecting a male secretary I assumed he was someone from the maintenance department. I did notice tha...
