Kurt Stocker's Swiss childhood
is dominated by strict and god-fearing parents. He enters a seminary with the
intent of becoming a priest and making his parents proud of him, but struggles
to adapt. Leaving this vocation behind, he marries Liesl and they eventually
emigrate to Australia.
Decades later in small town Australia, Terry Riley feels drawn to
convent life, despite her parent's objections. At the convent she is haunted
by a strange sickness and knows in time
that she must return to a more
conventional life. It is then she begins a relationship with the now divorced
Kurt, who was once her high school teacher.
This is the story of an odd
couple, of an older man and a younger woman in love with one another, but so
damaged by their past lives that even a regular sexual relationship seems
impossible. Beautiful in its frankness but disturbing in its examination of
faith and human existence, this is a novel that is affectionate, haunting and
ultimately unforgettable.
