The Stillness, the Dancing - Tapa blanda

'I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE WITHIN YOU,' RECITED THE PRIEST, 'AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH INSTEAD.'

Abandoned by God and her husband, the twin props of her existence, Morna Gordon has tried to live her life through her mother and daughter, both plunged in crises of their own. But the priest's words stir something in her soul, and meeting David – a man who believes passionately in souls – stirs something more profound.

Emerging from her anger and bewilderment, she embarks on a voyage of self-discovery, which takes her from the lunacy of anything-goes California, to a remote northern island and another century, to the fulfilment of scholarship and, finally to furious, fumbling but intoxicating love.

Exploring the lives of three generations of women with sensitivity and perception, 'The Stillness The Dancing' juxtaposes humour with tragedy, sex with mysticism, faith with doubt, the grab-all twentieth century with the hairshirt idealism of the Age of Saints in a giant lifescape of a novel.

'Perriam is bursting with ideas about sex, death, grief, celibacy, the problems of old age, of guilt, of mother-daughter relationships. The problems of women of all ages are described in a flexible lucid style, while humour and exuberance help to make this novel hugely enjoyable'
IRISH TIMES

'An excellent novel which does not flinch from the grave and universal subject of death, yet manages intimacy and scale at once. The wild and bitter comedy of life in America contrasts with the almost poetic purity of life on a Scottish island. This novel is about the utterly demanding nature of real love which can force a person through darkness into light. Perriam's writing is as rewarding as her theme.'
BEL MOONEY, 'Cosmopolitan'

'A questing novel, probing every pain-filled human part...brave, honest and clever.'
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