Impossible saints / Michèle Roberts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roberts, Michèle.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christian women saints--Fiction.

Christian women saints.

Fathers and daughters--Fiction.

Fathers and daughters.

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

308 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Hopewell, N.J. : Ecco Press, 1998.

Summary:

Written in alternating chapters that unfold with the timelessness of a fable, Michele Roberts counterposes two narratives: the life and death of Saint Josephine, loosely inspired by the writings of Saint Teresa, and the stories of eleven female saints, a series of poised vignettes that expose the troubled love between fathers and daughters, the stifled urges of women's creativity, and the recurring conflict between female sexuality and religion. Josephine's entry into nunhood and sainthood, and her disparate lives in and out of the convent, form the backbone of the novel. But who was Josephine, really? Holy woman or whore? Upholder of pious delights or purveyor of pagan rituals? Lowly nun, powerful miracle worker, or perhaps all of these? Woven throughout Josephine's story are tales of other female saints who truly are impossible: mad one-armed girls, beauties locked in towers, mothers who drive their daughters to fatal anorexia, daughters who seduce and dismember their fathers - women who simply do not know their place.

Notes:

Originally published: London : Little, Brown, 1997.

ISBN:

0880015977

OCLC:

37464353