Overview

His grandfather had been a Catholic priest. A story in seven words, and his life the unsolved mystery. Rome, 1953. David is young, handsome, charismatic, and sworn to celibacy. He is freshly ordained, and about to return to England to begin life as a priest. Devotion to God is all he's ever known, and all he thinks he ever will. In London, Margaret is entangled in an impossible love affair. Increasingly drawn to the Church, she sets out to join the new revolutions of sex and faith. Decades later, Margaret is being cared for by her grandson who has just discovered the strange truth of his family history, and the consquences of her and David's relationship across the generations. Stephanie Sy Quia's debut novel A Private Man is an exquisite story of forbidden love and ardent faith, of devotion and sacrifice.

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9781035052615

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Reviews

I loved A Private Man. Sy-Quia writes beautifully and energetically about faith and food and clothes and sex. Her prose embraces beauty and her characters are complex and compelling. It’s a rare pleasure to read this novel -- Sarah Moss, author of <i>Ripeness</i> A rich, elegant and textured novel full of quiet, beautiful revolutions, which sparks with erotic friction. A Private Man is a brilliant debut about secrets and belief, about the collision of lives, and about the liberation of being remade --  Seán Hewitt, author of<i> Open, Heaven</i> A Private Man is a warm, tender novel, written with such beauty and precision that it frequently stopped me in my tracks. I read it slowly, carefully, marvelling at an image, savouring each glint and turn -- Alex Hyde, author of <i>Violets</i> A luminous, deeply thoughtful and moving love story. Breathtakingly honest and true on sex, on art, on the analogy between religious and corporeal pleasure, A Private Man is also a meditation on care, faith, doubt and loss. A beautiful and wise novel -- Luke Kennard, author of <i>The Answer to Everything</i> A Private Man is truly outstanding: clever, passionate and as clean as a bone -- Melissa Harrison, author of <i>All Among the Barley</i> Stephanie Sy-Quia's novel takes the truly singular story of a truly singular soul and makes it into something approachable, understandable and familiar. This is a novel brimming with empathy, tenderness and wisdom -- Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, author of <i>The End of Nightwork</i>

A luminous, deeply thoughtful and moving love story. Breathtakingly honest and true on sex, on art, on the analogy between religious and corporeal pleasure, A Private Man is also a meditation on care, faith, doubt and loss. A beautiful and wise novel -- Luke Kennard, author of <i>The Answer to Everything</i> I loved A Private Man. Sy-Quia writes beautifully and energetically about faith and food and clothes and sex. Her prose embraces beauty and her characters are complex and compelling. It’s a rare pleasure to read this novel -- Sarah Moss, author of <i>Ripeness</i>

Author Information

Stephanie Sy-Quia's first book of poetry, Amnion, won the 2021 Forward Prize for Best First Collection, an Eric Gregory Award, and a Somerset Maugham Award. It was longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Laurel Prize, and the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize. Her writing has appeared in the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Boston Review, The White Review, Five Dials, and Granta, among others. She lives in London.

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