Smallish Hardback. It will not fit into an A5 envelope, but could be posted in an A4 helposti as it's only about 2.5cm thick. There are 235 pages

LONGLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE 2002

This book was an unexpected a gift from a BC friend - we'd talked about this topic/book a while ago (but I didn't expect to get the book!)

A marvellously well-crafted book, subtle and measured yet with the powerful, disconcerting tug of deep and dangerous water' (Sarah Walters)

Synopsis
A young girl grows up an outsider, then becomes drawn into the life of a local family with some curious beliefs. They treat her as a daughter and take her away with them to a religious holiday camp. It is here that she is introduced to the Finnish Envallist branch of Protestantism and here that events start to take a terrible turn. Rejected by some of the sectarians for her non-commitment to their beliefs, Natalie creates a rift in the group which culminates in a climactic scene where she is gravely injured. Later, as an adult in Finland, she tries to make sense of what happened and to unlock the secret origins of Envallism itself.




About the Author
Kathy Page was born in London. She spent several months in Finland researching this book and is currently living on a remote Canadian island with her husband and children for a year.

* Q. Is Envallism, the protestant sect in The Story of My Face, a real religious sect?

A. No. Or rather, not to my knowledge…

The latter half of the nineteenth century was a time of religious revival in Finland but Tuomas Envall was not a real person, and none of the sects that arose then were exactly like his. One of the inspirations for the book was a dimly remembered story someone once told me about a Christian sect in which photographs were banned. I was drawn to it by a mixture of horror (how fanatical!) and interest (a consumer culture such as ours is an image-saturated culture and sometimes I think this complicates life for us to a point that is harmful). A distrust of images has, at different times in history, characterised various religions and sects but when I began to research the book, I did not manage to trace the particular group I had been told about. On the other hand, I found many religious groups with far stranger beliefs, customs and prohibitions, surviving perfectly well in a so-called rational age. [See: The Religious Movements Page at University of Virginia] Actually, I think I would have been wary, in any case, of using a real group of people. Kathy Page Interview

'a moving, absorbing story of a woman and a girl drawn together by loss, and sleepwalking towards disaster. Kathy Page writes beautifully and combines strong storytelling, emotional candour and lyricism' (Helen Dunmore)

I'm finally getting around to reading this - and it's compelling. Now I've picked it up I can hardly put it down.

Brilliant Book.
The plot is gripping, the vocabulary excellent and I love it that it's set in both England and Finland (just like me).

I found the book especially interesting because I am a Christian and can easily understand how some sects get caught up in warped thinking. The way members of the camp wanted to expell Natalie because she wasn't one of them emphasised to me how judgemental Christians can be (though that's contrary to the way Jesus was and modelled) and their dilemma about photographs for the passport was interesting. I loved it too that the English scenes took place at the same time as the Americans landed on the Moon. I too was allowed to stay up and watch that on TV (I was 9 at the time) and had that feeling that life would never be the same again!

The girl is the book - Natalie - was such an interesting character and I particularly liked that there are two simultaneous plots - her past being revealed and her present. It didn't suprise me that what had happened to her face is only revealed right at the end - but how it happened and why was quite a shock. Somehow I expected something else.

Not sure yet what I'll do with this book. If the winners' bag does another round I think I'll include this (though it is a medium sized hardback) or then offer it as a ring here in Finland (though again its weight might preclude many signing up). Anyway ... let's see.

Added to the winners' bag #18 after it went AWOL this spring... and chosen by thy.

If I can just get it to the post.

This bookbag is jinxed I feel - so many mishaps along the way. But this book is worth waiting for!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:


I love reading where books end up -and what other readers thought of the book (good and bad!) - so do please take time to make a journal entry if you possibly can. Appreciate that!

Really sorry for the delay in this Thy.

arrived yesterday, thanks stf.
I had never heard of the book or the writer before, looks interesting.

25.9: I was hoping to have time to write the JE this morning before the book arrives to Nadezda. Did no succeed.. But I have read the book and liked it, it was quite gripping.

Thank you Thy, this seems like an interesting read.

Edit:
Hyllyyni päätyi jostain sama kirja myös suomeksi, joten tämä "vaikeampi luettava" saa jatkaa matkaansa.

At the train station

Thank you! Hyvää Juhannusta!