The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart audiobook

The Visionist: A Novel

By Rachel Urquhart
Read by Ellen Archer , Peter Ganim , and Ali Ahn

Hachette Book Group 9780316228114

Unabridged

Format : Library CD (In Stock)
  • 3 Formats: CD
  • 3 Formats: Library CD
  • 3 Formats: Playaway

  • ISBN: 9781478981695

  • ISBN: 9781478981664

  • ISBN: 9781478981688

Runtime: 12.13 Hours
Category: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Language: English
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Summary

Summary

A 2014 New York Times Editor’s Choice

Longlisted for the 2014 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize

An enthralling debut novel about a teenage girl who finds refuge—but perhaps not—in an 1840s Shaker community

In this exquisite, transporting debut, fifteen-year-old Polly Kimball sets fire to the family farm, killing her abusive father. She and her young brother find shelter in a Massachusetts Shaker community called the City of Hope. It is the Era of Manifestations, when young girls in Shaker enclaves all across the Northeast are experiencing extraordinary mystical visions, earning them the honorific of "Visionist" and bringing renown to their settlements.

The City of Hope has not yet been blessed with a Visionist, but that changes when Polly arrives and is unexpectedly exalted. As she struggles to keep her dark secrets concealed in the face of increasing scrutiny, Polly finds herself in a life-changing friendship with a young Shaker sister named Charity, a girl who will stake everything—including her faith—on Polly's honesty and purity.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“The Visionist is both a haunting, beautifully imagined tale of lives devastated by cruelty and transformed by love and a gorgeously evocative portrait of an 1840s Shaker settlement that is as startling as it is convincing.” —Cathy Marie Buchanan, New York Times bestselling author of The Painted Girls
“Gripping, profound, and beautifully written, The Visionist takes us to a world where faith and fear exist simultaneously and safety has a price. A remarkable exploration of love in all its forms with complex characters who linger far beyond the final pages.” —Brunonia Barry, New York Times bestselling author
“Rachel Urquhart’s transporting debut, The Visionist, lifts the veil on the intriguing, mystical past world of the Massachusetts Shakers. Equal parts exquisite historical coming-of-age story and harrowing crime procedural, The Visionist breathes life into desperate young orphan Polly Kimball, weaving a complex and compelling drama about one of American history’s most elusive religious communities. Lovers of historical fiction and seekers after truth will devour The Visionist just like I did.” —Katherine Howe, New York Times bestselling author
“Rachel Urquhart paints a fascinating, complex portrait of Shaker culture in early America. An unexpected coming of age story, a suspenseful mystery. But what makes The Visionist particularly engaging is its thoughtful examination of the nature of good and evil and our struggle to recognize it in ourselves and in others.” —Eowyn Ivey, New York Times bestselling author
“Urquhart’s find first novel…is rich with information…Urquhart reveals the truly exotic nature of Shaker culture…She is able to create two little girls who are both shrewd and naïve, calloused and tender. She recognizes and values the emotional complexity even of those trapped in narrow lives.” —New York Review of Books
“Urquhart constructs this debut novel around a seminal era in Shaker history. Set in New England in the mid-nineteenth century during the ‘Era of Manifestations,’ this tale explores the often paradoxical nature of a zealously rigid and charismatic belief system…The subject matter and the historical setting are compelling.” —Booklist
“This debut novel draws the reader into the strange and mystical world of the Shakers…Urquhart’s research provides fascinating details about Shaker beliefs and practices, and she deftly displays how human nature will break out even where attempts are made to suppress it in favor of a ‘pure’ life…For historical fiction fans wanting to immerse themselves in a setting they may know little about, this novel fits the bill.” —Library Journal
“A historical novel set in 1840s Massachusetts intertwines the stories of a Shaker community, a world-weary fire inspector, and a beleaguered farm family…An impressive debut.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The three narrators of this story are perfectly cast.” —AudioFile

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Author

Author Bio: Rachel Urquhart

Author Bio: Rachel Urquhart

Rachel Urquhart is a former writer and editor at Spy, Vogue, and Allure magazines. Her nonfiction has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Tin House, Elle, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, and Vanity Fair. She received her MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.

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Details

Details

Available Formats : CD, Library CD, Playaway
Category: Fiction
Runtime: 12.13
Audience: Adult
Language: English

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