Susan Howatch Livres

Superbattante et hypervolontaire, Carter Graham a réglé son existence comme du papier à musique. Son credo ? Tout maîtriser. Sa méthode ? Le self-control. Son but ? Gagner. A trente-cinq ans, femme d'affaires accomplie, il ne lui reste qu'à réussir sa vie privée comme sa vie professionnelle, trouver le mari idéal et faire deux ou trois enfants d'affilée avant de reprendre sa florissante carrière. Un plan parfait. D'ailleurs, depuis sa rencontre avec Kim Betz, ses désirs semblent devenir réalité. Mais Carter aurait-elle oublié que les plus beaux rêves peuvent se transformer en cauchemar ? Kim va la plonger dans un univers de faux-semblants, d'illusions et de bizarreries, où le mensonge le dispute à la malveillance et où le mystère confine au maléfice. L'homme qu'elle a décidé d'aimer cacherait-il un monstre ? Ou bien est-il la victime de l'entourage obscur que forment les ombres de son passé ? Pour la première fois de sa vie, Carter chavire, ne sait plus, perd pied. Jusqu'à la crise. Jusqu'à l'angoisse. jusqu'à se tourner, en désespoir de cause, vers les fameux guérisseurs de l'église St Benet. Quitte à découvrir que toute passion a sa part de noire et que le vrai bonheur est toujours une épreuve, bien et mal indissolublement mêlés.

Reissue of the author's most famous and well-loved work, the Starbridge series, six self-contained yet interconnected novels that explore the history of the Church of England through the 20th century.

Following "Glittering Images", "Glamorous Powers", "Ultimate Prizes", "Scandalous Risks", "Mystical Paths" and "Absolute Truths", this book concludes a series of novels set against the backdrop of the power and politics of the Church of England in the 20th century.

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.

Robert Godwin's tumultuous ride on the Wheel of Fortune begins with his passion for his sensual cousin Ginevra, as they waltz to 'The Blue Danube' beneath the chandeliers at Oxmoon, his beloved family home in Wales. As Robert discovers, his rational, well- ordered mind will be forever altered by his obsession for Ginevra, and his destiny will be forever linked to Oxmoon by the skeletons which lurk in the family closet...For fifty years, from the sinister summer afternoon of 1913 to the 1960s, the Godwin family are sucked into a maelstrom of passion, disorder, madness and murder. Fortunes rise and fall in this sweeping, compulsive tale, until the Wheel of Fortune finally comes full circle

A paperback edition of the companion novel to THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT, which continues the story of the Van Zale dynasty with Vicky's fight for survival against the three men who use her as a pawn in their struggles for wealth and power.

“No writing today can equal [Susan] Howatch's ability to write compelling novels that combine theology and psychology in a complex, fast-moving plot offering beautifully delineated characters and the suspense of a mystery/thriller. . . . The denouement will leave readers breathless.”—Publishers Weekly Nicholas Darrow is a strong-willed and independent-minded man, full of the energy and assurance of his age and his moment in time—he is twenty-five in 1968. A magnet for attention and attraction, Nicholas is already beset by a troubled past, and expert at ignoring the grip it has on his life. But as he follows his father into the Anglican priesthood, his fascination with his own psychic powers results near-tragedy. It will only be by facing the truth about his relationship with his father that Nicholas can find his way out of the seemingly impenetrable darkness that engulfs him. . . . Told with all the drama, intelligence, and emotional depth we have come to expect from Susan Howatch, Mystical Paths is a breathtaking novel about the powerful, often painful, but finally indestructible ties between parent and child. And like its four highly praised predecessors in the Church of England series, it is a novel that celebrates the redeeming power of self-knowledge and faith. “Intelligent, compelling, and fascinating.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

In the overheated 1960s in the English town of Starbridge, young Venetia Flaxton edges closer to a love affair with Neville Aysgarth, who is Dean of the Cathedral and old enough to be her father. His hidden emotional past and her moral conflict in the present lead them deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the human heart and soul.

Originally published as A Question of Integrity, this novel tells the story of Alice, Shy, dumpy and unhappy with herself, she wanders the City of London one lunch hour and stumbles without warning into a situation which will revolutionise her life. Brought up by a strict maiden aunt devoted to rationalism, Alice hardly foresees that she'll be drawn into the mysterious world of a healing centre based at a church and its offbeat but very human inhabitants who struggle to help others survive the maelstrom of modern life. There's Lewis, the irascible traditionalist, a priest of the old school who has problems dealing with women, homosexuals and the liberal spirit of the age; Rosalind, who appears so glamorous and successful but is in truth unhappy and unfulfilled; Francie, a woman who may or may not be deluded but who burns above all to be loved; Stacy, the naïve young trainee searching for the right direction as he becomes increasingly lost; and finally Nicholas, the one-time shady wonder-worker now determined to stay honest - even as he finds himself drawn towards danger, damage and demoralisation.