The Leper's Companions (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780679758389)

In this fascinatingly imaginative novel, Julia Blackburn has decimated all the rules, creating a magical tale that is part fable, part allegory, part present, part past, and wholly genuine and poetic.

The unnamed protagonist has recently lost someone she loved, and her solution is to abandon the present, and the overwhelming pain. The seamless narrative lands her in a medieval seaside village where mermaids wash ashore, devils haunt in packs, a child is born with the head of a fish, and where one day, quite out of nowhere, there emerges a sage and wandering leper. The leper leads a small group of the villagers, including the protagonist, on a journey to Jerusalem, a harrowing pilgrimage that compels all the travelers to confront their deepest selves.

Exquisite and lyrical, The Lepers Companions is a heart-rending tale by one of our most fiercely original storytellers.

Author: Julia Blackburn
ISBN-10: 0679758380
ISBN-13: 9780679758389
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Language: English
Published: 09/05/2000
Pages: 210
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.39lbs
Size: 7.94h x 5.19w x 0.51d
Award: Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction - Nominee

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 09/03/2000 pg. 20