Virgin & Child

Maggie Hamand author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Barbican Press

Published:5th Apr '22

£9.99

Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.

Virgin & Child cover

Patrick, the first Irish Pope, is sure of many things: his faith, the sanctity of life, that he is a man, that he is celibate.

Then all he's held true is cast into doubt.

How can he act as the moral heart of the church when his convictions falter and his secrets threaten to destroy all he's achieved? Catholicism and modern morality are held in tension, and Pope Patrick must make once unimaginable choices. When the truth begins to emerge, the Vatican wants him silenced. The Pope’s sheltered existence becomes a race of life and death.

'This literary thriller is not your average whodunnit, but rather a modern morality suspense story with an unexpected twist… A compelling alternative papal mystery.' - Elizabeth Fitzherbert, The Lady

'Hamand goes on to relate a tale so humanely, so movingly and with such authorial depth and deftness that the reader would have to be a saint not to read it through in one enormous sitting… beautifully written and utterly transgressive.' - Paul Simon, The Morning Star

'This Vatican thriller is beautifully written with some extraordinary twists and turns.' - Jane Corry, Sidmouth Herald

'Maggie Hamand… invokes thriller tropes, mixing them with science fiction-style speculation, journalistic observation and lyrical descriptions.' - Michèle Roberts, The Tablet 

'Lively and sympathetic… expertly, she convinces us to the point where we willingly suspend disbelief.' - Caroline Bowder, Church Times

'A surprisingly realistic and robust exploration of the church's view on femininity, abortion, the body, love and more… clever and intriguing.' - Niamh Donnelly, The Irish Times

'This is a strange and strangely touching novel and it is also written with great elegance and authority. It tackles head on some of the most challenging issues for the Roman Catholic Church around gender and sexuality and at the same time has some of the loveliest, most persuasive, writing about personal prayer that I have ever encountered in fiction.' - Sara Maitland, author of A Book Of Silence

'Beautifully written, its articulate and compassionate… Thought provoking and unputdownable.' Lesley Budge, The Bookwormery

'The most conceptually striking novel I've read this year… nothing short of genius.' - Julie Ryan, All Things Bookie

'Strangely moving and intensely thoughtful…' - Joules Barham, Northern Reader

'Part thriller, part mystery, part who-dun-it… a truly original story.' - Angela Crowther, Promoting Crime Fiction

'Virgin & Child is a fantasy, but meticulous research, liturgical and anatomical, persuades us to accept it is based on facts.' - Gwen Moffat, Shots

'Lyrical and full of philosophical questions' - Madeleine Shakespeare, Ramblingmads

ISBN: 9781909954458

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

281 pages

New edition