"Psychic powers, spiritual conflict, romantic dilemmas and theological intrigue abounds in this reworked edition of the second novel in the author’s Starbridge series."
First published in 1988, this “expanded, extensively revised” edition of Glamorous Powers is, in the words of author Susan Howatch, a "deeper, more complex version of the fictitious narrator's previous story”.
Second book in the Starbridge Series, which as a whole explores the history of the Church of England through the 20th century across six connected novels, it’s especially notable for presenting detailed insights into its protagonist’s emotional and spiritual states of mind, and for maintaining momentum, intrigue and pace over an extended, complex plot as it shares the story of Jon Darrow, a troubled Anglican monk who possesses what the church calls “glamorous powers”— visionary abilities he believes come from God.
In Glamorous Powers, Darrow interprets a disturbingly vivid vision as a divine command to leave his monastery. After doing just that, he’s compelled to confront a tangle of conflicts between the sacred and the profane, and between his past, present and future in the form of struggles with his old family, struggles with his identity, and a possible new romance. A sweeping theological thriller steeped in psychology, Glamorous Powers also explores broader mid-life crises and mysticism in the church.
Jon Darrow, a man with psychic powers, is a man who has played many parts: a shady faith-healer; a naval chaplain, a passionate husband, an awkward father, an Anglo-Catholic monk.In 1940 Darrow returns to the world he once renounced, but faced with many unforeseen temptations he fails to control his psychic, most glamorous powers. Corruption lies in wait for him, and threatens not only his future as a priest but his happiness with Anne, the young woman he has come to love.
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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Jon Darrow, a man with psychic powers, is a man who has played many parts: a shady faith-healer; a naval chaplain, a passionate husband, an awkward father, an Anglo-Catholic monk.In 1940 Darrow returns to the world he once renounced, but faced with many unforeseen temptations he fails to control his psychic, most glamorous powers. Corruption lies in wait for him, and threatens not only his future as a priest but his happiness with Anne, the young woman he has come to love.
Glamorous Powers features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Literary Pick of the Month, General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance / Relationship Stories
Hardback, Paperback. Not Available.
Glamorous Powers was written by Susan Howatch and published by Fontana Press an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
