Overview

'Astonishing . . . a scorching vision of a book' CHARLOTTE WOOD, bestselling author of The Weekend The legend is only the beginning... Ninth-century Mainz, in the heart of the Holy Roman Empire. Agnes is the motherless child of an English priest - a wild and brilliant girl with a deep, visceral love of God. But when tragedy strikes, she is suddenly forced to choose between what is expected of her and the life she has always dreamed of. Determined to find her own freedom, she disguises herself as a man, securing a place at the revered Fulda monastery and forever altering the course of her existence. Thus begins the life of John the Englishman: a matchless scholar and scribe of Fulda, then a charismatic heretic in an Athens commune and, by her middle years, a celebrated teacher in Rome. There, she dazzles the Church hierarchy with her knowledge of the old and new languages of Europe, theology and Church law, and finds herself at the heart of political intrigue in a city where gossip is a powerful - and deadly - currency. And when the only person who knows her identity arrives in Rome, she will risk everything to once again feel what it is to be known - and loved.

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9781399731089

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Reviews

PRAISE FOR EMILY MAGUIRE'S AN ISOLATED INCIDENT Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize 'Superb writing and sense of place. Totally credible voices. Read her!' Ann Cleeves 'This hugely chilling and evocative story, mixing lyrical language and brutal events, is told with great psychological acuity' Anita Sethi 'A harrowing, fascinating, compelling work from an accomplished and thoughtful Australian writer' Australian 'Utterly engrossing . . . Rather than creating a simple case of goodies and baddies, Maguire subtly examines the complexity of the human personality and what leads somebody to feel destructive' Sydney Morning Herald 'A murder mystery that deftly transforms the genre' Stella Prize judges

Rapture is astonishing - a scorching vision of a book. Drawing on history, legend, speculation and gossip, Maguire's medieval girl-Pope story is made of many things: flesh and earth and blood; ambition and abnegation; rage and transcendence, all pouring into this pagan, biblical, strange and mighty work from an imagination in soaring flight -- Charlotte Wood, author of STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL Maguire has performed the dazzling feat of making the earthly feel miraculous and the heavenly feel intimate. This glorious novel both burns and sings -- Fiona McFarlane, author of THE SUN WALKS DOWN This book is so alive and real I was totally hooked from the start. It captures both the grit of daily human life and the soaring ecstasies of the eternal burning spirit. Another masterpiece from Maguire -- Bri Lee, author of THE WORK Rapture is the perfect title for this wonderful, original story of devotion, passion and purpose. I felt myself transported, seamlessly, to another time, long ago, with Agnes, the novel's determined protagonist, as my guide. I loved her -- Sofie Laguna, author of INFINITE SPLENDOURS An enthralling evocation of a world in turmoil, threaded through by the life of a singular, brilliant woman. The wonder of Rapture is that Maguire makes a time more than a thousand years distant feel so vivid and its concerns so alive. Agnes's choices are enduring: How do you become your truest self; what might you sacrifice along the way? This richly inhabited novel is as audacious and unwavering as Agnes herself -- Lucy Treloar, author of DAYS OF INNOCENCE AND WONDER A strange and magnificent vision of a novel: in Agnes, Maguire embodies a ferocity of both the mind and body, ambition and humility, wisdom, desire, sacrifice, grace and a refusal to follow the path laid down for her. Maguire's language and storytelling soars. I was transfixed. Maguire effortlessly transitions to deeply researched and utterly compelling historical fiction in the style of Lauren Groff, Hannah Kent, Anthony Doerr and Pip Williams -- Kate Mildenhall, author of THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT PRAISE FOR EMILY MAGUIRE'S AN ISOLATED INCIDENT Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize 'Superb writing and sense of place. Totally credible voices. Read her!' Ann Cleeves 'This hugely chilling and evocative story, mixing lyrical language and brutal events, is told with great psychological acuity' Anita Sethi

Rapture is astonishing - a scorching vision of a book. Drawing on history, legend, speculation and gossip, Maguire's medieval girl-Pope story is made of many things: flesh and earth and blood; ambition and abnegation; rage and transcendence, all pouring into this pagan, biblical, strange and mighty work from an imagination in soaring flight -- Charlotte Wood, author of STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL PRAISE FOR EMILY MAGUIRE'S AN ISOLATED INCIDENT Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize 'Superb writing and sense of place. Totally credible voices. Read her!' Ann Cleeves 'This hugely chilling and evocative story, mixing lyrical language and brutal events, is told with great psychological acuity' Anita Sethi 'Utterly engrossing . . . Rather than creating a simple case of goodies and baddies, Maguire subtly examines the complexity of the human personality and what leads somebody to feel destructive' Sydney Morning Herald

Author Information

Emily Maguire is the author of seven novels and three non-fiction books. Her 2016 novel, An Isolated Incident, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and the Miles Franklin Literary Award. She was twice named as a Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year, was the 2018/2019 Writer-in-Residence at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney and the 2023 H. C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University. Emily has an MA in literature and works as a mentor to young and emerging writers.

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