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Absolute Truths
Absolute Truths
Author: Susan Howatch
"A SKILLFUL BLEND OF CHARACTER, PHILOSOPHY AND — NARRATIVE. . .Formidable personalities embroil themselves in ruthless power struggles that would make a corporate raider blush." — --The Washington Post Book World — It is 1965, and Charles Ashworth has attained the plum position of bishop of Starbridge, an honor that keeps him in a heady whirl of ac...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780679412069
ISBN-10: 0679412069
Publication Date: 1/15/1995
Pages: 559
Rating:
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 3

4.3 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Knopf
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
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reviewed Absolute Truths on + 162 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Very human story of the problems a married Bishop faces, both with his personal life and his church life. I enjoyed it and learned quite a bit.
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reviewed Absolute Truths on + 625 more book reviews
The sixth and final volume in a series that began with Glittering Images, this novel again displays Howatch's ability to meld an involving, character-driven story with a larger theme, that of spiritual quest and fulfillment. This time, however, the centrality-and discussion-of ecclesiastical issues tends to slow the narrative. The book is set during the mid-1960s, the period during which the Church of England-not to mention the rest of the country and beyond-was rocked by widespread challenges to tradition. Again representing tradition is narrator Charles Ashworth, the Anglican Bishop of Starbridge, who promotes the so-called Middle Way, a half-and-half mixture of Catholicism and Protestantism. Ashworth's archenemy-and doppelganger-is Neville Aysgarth, the Dean of the Cathedral who is, according to Ashworth, unorthodoxly open to using the trappings of a capitalistic marketplace to benefit the financially deteriorating church building. To make matters worse, Aysgarth is an alleged dipsomaniac and womanizer, who once made a pass at Ashworth's beloved wife, Lyle. When Lyle dies suddenly, the bereaved widower strays dangerously from the fold, but he does not experience a redemption-through-repentance journey as dramatic as those of Arthur Dimmesdale or Raskolnikov.


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