The 27th Kingdom - Hardcover

Ellis, Alice Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1559212500 ISBN 13: 9781559212502

Publisher: Moyer Bell Ltd, 1999

Synopsis

The Roman Catholic Russian ancestors of Aunt Irene, the central character in Alice Thomas Ellis's new novel, were persecuted and forced to flee to Ukraine, Lithuania, Austria "or as the story-tellers would have it, across 27 lands and 30 countries until they came to the 27th Kingdom."
For the good, kind and infinitely friendly Aunt Irene, her handsome but wicked nephew, Kyril, and Focus, a cat of alarming intelligence, this is "Dancing Master House," a minute dwelling in the Chelsea of the 1950's, with its motley assortment of antique dealers, criminals and "chars." Two of these gossiping women, Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Mason, one "dead common" with criminal connections, the other an impoverished lady of the upper classes, clean for and take care of the needs of Aunt Irene and Kyril.
From Wales, Irene's sister, the Mother Superior, sends Valentine, a beautiful young West Indian postulant, ostensibly "to test her vocation" but really because of the embarrassing discovery that Valentine has miraculous powers.
The adventures of this strangely disparate group of people, stalked by an official trying to collect Aunt Irene's unpaid income tax, provide the basis for a story about angels and demons in a style which epitomizes the refreshing eccentricities of English humor.

About this title

Synopsis:

Aunt Irene, her wicked nephew Kyril, and Focus, a cat of alarming intelligence, move into a minute dwelling in 1950s Chelsea, with its motley assortment of antique dealers, criminals and 'chars'. And from Wales comes Valentine, a beautiful West Indian postulant with miraculous powers.

About the Author:

Alice Thomas Ellis was been short-listed for the Booker prize for this novel. She is the author of A Welsh Childhood (autobiography), Fairy Tales and several other novels including The Summerhouse Trilogy, made into a movie starring Jeanne Moreau and Joan Plowright.

About this edition

• Publisher: Moyer Bell Ltd
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1559212500
• ISBN 13: 9781559212502
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 159