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Review
'One of the most original novelists writing today' Cosmopolitan
'She is writing for anyone who can recognise that mysterious gift of the true storyteller' Daily Telegraph
‘Arguably no one writing today can equal Howatch's ability to write compelling novels that combine theology and psychology in a complex, fast-moving plot offering beautifully delineated characters and the suspense of a mystery thriller' Publishers Weekly
‘A fascinating, mind-bending exposition… Howatch wins out' Sunday Times'
‘Taking on the style of a psychological thriller…Mystical Paths covers in a profound and theologically thoughtful way the powers of light and powers of darkness…Her success should not go unrewarded' Catholic Herald
'Howatch writes thrillers of the heart and mind …everything in a Howatch novel cuts close to the bone and is of vital concern' New Woman
Product Description
Reissue of the author’s most famous and well-loved work, the Starbridge series, six self-contained yet interconnected novels that explore the history of the Church of England through the 20th century.
1968, with the swinging sixties sliding into decadence, finds Nicholas Darrow wrestling with overwhelming personal problems: How can he bring himself to marry his fiancée, Rosalind, when he is unable to avoid promiscuity? How can he become a priest when he finds it so difficult to live as one? And how can he break his dangerous dependence on his father Jon, whose psychic gifts he shares?
It is at this crucial moment in his life that Nick becomes involved in the mystery surrounding his friend, Christian Aysgarth. Gradually, he realises that discovering the truth about this enigmatic and complex man will unlock the answers to his own baffling problems. However, his journey through darkness into the light reverses all the old certainties and, in his experiments with the psychic powers, Nick risks even his own life and sanity.
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Customer Reviews
In spite of Nick's charms I wasn't entirely captivated by this book. I never really developed an interest in Christian and couldn't quite follow Nick's fascinationwith him. Also I found the psychic-occult element a little tedious this time around; it had been dealt with adequately in Glamorous Powers, I felt. Nevertheless it's an important part of the series and it was wonderful getting to know Nick, and witnessing the love between him and Jon.
Nonetheless, Susan Howatch is a good story-teller and the plot moves quickly and holds the readers attention. The background of the Church of England is interesting although I think that Susan Howatch focuses too much on one particular branch of it (high church) and I am not sure that she ever quite manages to capture the essence of spirituality (though who can?).
All in all a good read, but should be read with the others in the series.
Nick is a psychic like his father, and believes that his special insight has revealed that Christian is not dead, but has abandoned his superfically successful but spiritually dead existence for something more meaningful. A vision, or perhaps a sighting, of Christian in the monastery garden at Grantchester only seems to confirm this. Nick's efforts to discover the truth lead him through the heights and depths of '60s society, from aristocratic parties to Christian's drug addict lover. He also has to contend with his own sexual frustrations, taken out on working class girls kept far away from his frightfully proper fiancée.
Frankly, I find Nick Darrow the most annoying character that Howatch has ever created. His arrogance is unmitigated by any charm, and though he apparently exercises some fascination for his acquaintances through psychic parlour tricks, these fail to convince me that he is more than a manipulative snob.
The book would have worked much better if we'd known Christian before it began. This is not a Golden Age, body-in-the-library mystery: it is character driven, and as such, if we don't care about the bloke who's dead and can't stand the one who's supposed to be avenging him, there's no hope for it.
This is actually much harsher than I mean it to be. I enjoyed the book, almost because of how annoying Nick is. I knew (because that's what happens to Howatch's heroes) that he would fall, and fall he did. The murky plot surrounding Christian's disappearance is an interesting departure from the purely spiritual concerns of the rest of the series, though the solution is so painfully obvious that it's quite incredible that Howatch does not surprise us with a twist at the end. Add to this the parade of every single possible character from the rest of the series, and some amusing additions in the shape of Christian's brothers Norman and James, and his old friend Perry Palmer, and you have a book that fans of the rest of the series will lap up, even though it is most definitely not the volume to start with.
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