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Sanctuary Line

Jane Urquhart author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Quercus Publishing

Published:3rd Jan '13

Should be back in stock very soon

Sanctuary Line cover

Solitary, nostalgic Liz Crane returns to her family's now-deserted farmhouse to study the migratory habits of the Monarch butterfly. A rich family history - all the anecdotes and blarney of successful Irish immigrants - is now tainted with sadness. Her cousin Amanda, a gifted military strategist, has been killed in Afghanistan, a loss foreshadowed by the earlier disappearance of her charismatic father. Reflecting on the fragility and transcience of human life and relations - mirrored in the Monarchs' restless flight - Liz finds that love is there to be found where you least expect it.

'Urquhart handles the layers of narrative with lyrical aplomb' Susan Elderkin, Financial Times. * Financial Times *
'A delicate work of rare beauty' Lucy Popescu, Independent. * Independent *
'Urquhart's style is reminiscent of that of the Pulitzer-winner Marilynne Robinson' Mary Morrissey, Irish Times. * Irish Times *
'Emotional and atmospheric' The Lady. * Lady *
'Urquhart's writing is poetic, in the sense that it is beautifully compact and restrained when describing the most powerful emotions' The Times. * The Times *
'Urquhart's prose is lovingly and skilfully constructed ... Her sparse plot dances and weaves like a butterfly' Sunday Business Post. * Sunday Business Post *

  • Long-listed for Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010

ISBN: 9780857386397

Dimensions: 199mm x 130mm x 10mm

Weight: 188g

256 pages