Absolute Truths: 6 (Starbridge) - Softcover

Howatch, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449225550 ISBN 13: 9780449225554

Publisher: Fawcett Books, 1996

Synopsis

"A SKILLFUL BLEND OF CHARACTER, PHILOSOPHY AND NARRATIVE. . .Formidable personalities embroil themselves in ruthless power struggles that would make a corporate raider blush."--The Washington Post Book WorldIt is 1965, and Charles Ashworth has attained the plum position of bishop of Starbridge, an honor that keeps him in a heady whirl of activity that would exhaust the most seasoned corporate executive. With the invaluable support of his minions and his attractive, unsinkable wife, Ashworth stands against the amorality and decadence of the age--"Anti-Sex Ashworth." He slays his opponents by being a tough, efficient, confident churchman, the torments of his past long since dead and buried.And then the unexpected, the unthinkable, strikes.Suddenly Ashworth finds himself staring into the chasm of all the lies hes been telling himself for years: about his marriage, his children, even his views on the Church. And as he suspects his old nemesis and dean, Neville Aysgarth, of drinking too much, of financial chicanery, of--God forbid--having an affair, Ashworth discovers to his horror that he is tempted to commit the very acts that he has so publicly denounced. . . ."ENTHRALLING. . .Rich, dense, almost indecently entertaining."--San Jose Mercury News"POWERFUL. . .MIRACULOUS."--Booklist (starred review)SELECTED BY THE BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB

About this title

From the Back Cover:

1968, with the swinging sixties sliding into decadence, finds Nicholas Darrow wrestling with overwhelming personal problems: How can he bring himself to marry his fiancee, Rosalind, when he is unable to avoid promiscuity? How can he become a priest when he finds it so difficult to live as one? And how can he break his dangerous dependence on his father Jon, whose psychic gifts he shares?

It is at this crucial moment in his life that Nick becomes involved in the mystery surrounding his friend, Christian Aysgarth. Gradually, he realises that discovering the truth about this enigmatic and complex man will unlock the answers to his own baffling problems. However, his journey through darkness into the light reverses all the old certainties and, in his experiments with his psychic powers, Nick risks even his own life and sanity.

"She is writing for anyone who can recognise that mysterious gift of the true storyteller."
DAILY TELEGRAPH

"Utterly addictive"
JILLY COOPER

About the Author:

Susan Howatch was born in Surrey. After getting a degree in law, she emigrated to America, where she married, had a daughter, and embarked on a career as a writer. When she eventually left the United States, she lived in the Republic of Ireland for four years before returning to England. She spent time in Salisbury—which was the inspiration for her Starbridge sequence of novels—and now lives in London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fawcett Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0449225550
• ISBN 13: 9780449225554
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 640