Blackburn, Julia The Leper's Companions ISBN 13: 9780224051279

The Leper's Companions - Hardcover

9780224051279: The Leper's Companions
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
One morning in 1410, two men from an East-Coast fishing village find a mermaid washed up on the sand. This discovery starts a chain of events that leads four of our villages-the priest, the shoemaker's wife, the fisherman's daughter and the leper-on a pilgrimage: across the North Sea, to Venice and then along the Mediterranean coast to the Holy Land. With the magical imagination that has illumiated her previous books, Julia Blackburn travels with her pilgrims. At first she follows from Distance, but gradually she pulls closer until the five centuries between their time and ours dissolve and the author has entered their world. A spellbinding novel by one of the most original writers currently at work, The Leper's Companions is an extraordinary evocation of the medieval world-a book about birth and death, about destiny, about the courage to let go without the certainty of surviving, to journey with no certainty of return.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
In this quiet allegory of love, loss and the healing powers of imagination, an unnamed narrator loses someone she loves--"It does not matter who that person was or what sort of love it had been"--and needs time to recover. She yearns to travel to a foreign country but can't. Yet her need for escape is such that, during a restless evening walk to a local village, she finds herself whisked back in time to the early 1400s.

Through her, we're drawn into the villagers' lives, loves and deaths. The woman who sees devils. Sally, aged 14, pregnant and married to the man who finds the beached mermaid. The shoemaker and his wife, whose passion sparks the moment they meet, and endures beyond death. The priest and the leper.

Following a series of events that seem extraordinary to the modern eye, but unexceptional to the villagers--miraculous cures, a monstrous birth, the mermaid's brief appearance-- a small party sets out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Julia Blackburn--whose previous novel The Book of Colour was shortlisted for the Orange Prize-- weaves her intricate four-dimensional tapestry from the simplest of threads. Her lucid and absorbing tale highlights both the otherness and the warm familiarity of the past, and unfolds the processes of grief and recuperation to show how life can grow out of loss. --Lisa Gee

Review:
"This slim book possesses a remarkable intensity.... [A] hypnotic vision of the worlds horror and beauty, banality and sacredness--and of the frailty and splendor of the human mind."--The New York Times Book Review

"Profound...dreamy.... Blackburn [has] made something deep and poetic."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"In the end, there is a sense not merely of satisfaction, but almost of exhilaration."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherJonathan Cape Ltd
  • Publication date1999
  • ISBN 10 022405127X
  • ISBN 13 9780224051279
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages224
  • Rating
Buy Used
Condition: Very Good
The book has been read, but is... Learn more about this copy

Shipping: £ 4.80
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Destination, rates & speeds

Add to Basket

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780099272762: The Leper's Companions

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780099272762
Publisher: Vintage, 2000
Softcover

  • 9780679758389: The Leper's Companions: A Novel (Vintage International)

    Knopf ..., 2000
    Softcover

  • 9780679439844: The Leper's Companions: A novel

    Pantheon, 1999
    Hardcover

  • 9780676581591: The Leper's Companions

    New Yo..., 1999
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Blackburn, Julia
Published by Cape (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover Quantity: 2
Seller:
WorldofBooks
(Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR004006067

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 1.66
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 4.80
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Blackburn, Julia
Published by Jonathan Cape Ltd (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Reuseabook
(Gloucester, GLOS, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages. Seller Inventory # CHL9533234

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 1.95
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 7.37
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Blackburn, Julia
Published by Jonathan Cape Ltd (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Reuseabook
(Gloucester, GLOS, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Seller Inventory # CHL1018298

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 1.95
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 7.37
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Blackburn, Julia
Published by Penguin Random House (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Better World Books Ltd
(Dunfermline, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 40088109-20

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 4.61
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 8
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Julia Blackburn
Published by Jonathan Cape, London (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
Lazy Letters Books
(Market Rasen, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. As new. Seller Inventory # 032167

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 6
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 11.80
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Julia Blackburn
Published by Jonathan Cape Ltd, London (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
John Stoodley
(Weymouth, Dorset, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Hardcover, VG in VG dustjacket with creasing at top of rear flap. Seller Inventory # 007306

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 5
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 15
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Blackburn, Julia
Published by Jonathan Cape Ltd (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Kennys Bookstore
(Olney, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: Very Good. Fine in dustwrapper. An excellent copy. 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # KTJ0050134

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 11.77
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 8.31
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Blackburn, Julia
Published by Jonathan Cape Ltd (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:

Book Description Condition: Very Good. Fine in dustwrapper. An excellent copy. 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. . . . . Seller Inventory # KTJ0050134

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 11.49
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 9.01
From Ireland to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

BLACKBURN (Julia)
Published by London: Jonathan Cape (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover Signed Quantity: 1
Seller:
James Fergusson Books & Manuscripts
(London, United Kingdom)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. First edition, a nice copy in dustwrapper. From the library of Anthony Astbury, founder of the Greville Press; inscribed by the author, "Tony, with all good wishes, Julia. January '99". Inscribed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # AA0006

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 10
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 11
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Julia Blackburn
Published by Jonathan Cape January 1999 (1999)
ISBN 10: 022405127X ISBN 13: 9780224051279
Used Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
Dunaway Books
(St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Like New. First Edition. Seller Inventory # 52952

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy Used
£ 20.39
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.17
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book