Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Sacrament

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A psychological thriller that "feels at first like a classic study in Scandi noir. . . . But something more tender and ephemeral lurks beneath" (Entertainment Weekly).

A young nun is sent by the Vatican to investigate allegations of misconduct at a Catholic school in Iceland. During her time there, on a gray winter's day, a young student at the school watches the school's headmaster, Father August Franz, fall to his death from the church tower.

Two decades later, the child—now a grown man, haunted by the past—calls the nun back to the scene of the crime. Seeking peace and calm in her twilight years at a convent in France, she has no choice to make a trip to Iceland again, a trip that brings her former visit, as well as her years as a young woman in Paris, powerfully and sometimes painfully to life.

In The Sacrament, critically acclaimed novelist Olaf Olafsson looks deeply at the complexity of our past lives and selves; the faulty nature of memory; and the indelible mark left by the joys and traumas of youth.

"The novel confounds our expectations, sifting through memory, as it evolves into a low-simmering psychological thriller." — Library Journal

"[A] gripping, masterfully constructed story toward redemption and justice." — Booklist

"Emotionally gratifying and spiritually challenging—a compelling novel that grabs the reader's psyche and won't let go." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A mesmerizing and powerful look at abuse in the Catholic Church . . .an astounding dénouement. . . .This is an incisive novel." — Publishers Weekly

"Olafsson's sparse, unadorned language intensifies an understanding that this story is indirectly about those who are voiceless . . . wonderful, empathic." — New York Times Book Review

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    Loading
    Loading

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading