by A.L. Kennedy
First published 2010
Helen Brindle believes she has lost her connection to God. Her marriage to the brutal Mr. Brindle offers nothing but violence and danger. She searches for something beyond the emptiness of her home life. Her journey takes her to Stuttgart, where she encounters Edward E. Gluck, a mysterious figure who promotes his Process and surrounds himself with strange rituals. As Helen navigates this new world, her priest begins revealing his own secrets during what should be her confessions. The boundary between sacred and profane blurs as Helen confronts her hunger for completion. She must choose between the familiar cruelty she knows and the uncertain promise of transformation. Kennedy explores how people mistake spiritual longing for physical desire and how both can lead to salvation or destruction. The collection examines what happens when ordinary people reach their breaking point and discover that healing requires confronting the very things that terrify them most.
Genres: drama, literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption, spiritual-journey
Setting: Stuttgart
Period: 20th-century
320 pages · Kindle Edition · Vintage Digital
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence