"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.
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
In 1940 former naval officer chaplain Jon Darrow is now a monk, his psychic gifts kept in order by a busy and rewarding community life. But suddenly he receives a vision calling him to leave his monastery and embark on a journey which will require all his courage and strength, a journey to seek a new life. Yet how can he be sure his psychic gifts and charismatic qualities - those glamorous powers - won't corrupt this new life in the moral maelstrom of the Second World War?
Darrow almost yearns to believe his vision is a delusion, but adventure is waiting for him beyond the cloister and he must steel himself to face the dark and dangerous world he's been called to rejoin.
Susan Howatch's Glamorous Powers remains one of the most sophisticated examinations of faith, psychology and the Anglican Church ever written. Part psychological thriller, part spiritual journey, this enhanced edition reveals new layers of meaning in Darrow's struggle to reconcile his mystical gifts with his all-too-human heart.
Whether you're discovering Jon Darrow's story for the first time or returning to the world of Starbridge, this definitive edition offers the richest, most complete vision of Howatch's unforgettable tale of searing self-discovery, passionate love and desperate errors which explode into a quest for forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption.
Glamorous Powers features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Literary Pick of the Month, General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance / Relationship Stories
Glamorous Powers is available in Hardback, Paperback
Glamorous Powers was written by Susan Howatch and published by whitefox Publishing an imprint of Whitefox Publishing Ltd
Glamorous Powers has 672 pages
£22.50
-130x200.jpg)
