"Prisoner of God" is a revolutionary testimony against the Church and its methods, against the brainwashing to which many members are submitted, and the power and influence it exerts across a broad spectrum of society. It is also an account of the mysterious world of the abbeys: the monks' everyday life and the way they deal with solitude, silence and sexuality. A brilliant student with a promising career ahead of him as a biologist under the guidance of Nobel Prize-winner Jacques Monod, M...

SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERNUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER**From one of our greatest voices in modern philosophy, author of The Course of Love, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Art of Travel and The School of Life'A serious and optimistic set of practical ideas that could improve and alter the way we live' Jeanette Winterson, The Times**'A beautiful, inspiring book... offering a ...

The Last Four Things is the second in Paul Hoffman's remarkable series.Death, Judgement, Heaven and HellThese are the Last Four ThingsNow there are FiveMeet Thomas CaleReturning to the Sanctuary of the Redeemers, Thomas Cale is told by the Lord Militant that the destruction of mankind is necessary; the only way to undo God's greatest mistake.Cale seemingly accepts his role in the ending of the world: fate has painted hi...

WINNER OF THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX DU ROMAN POLICIER'Beautifully written . . . An excellent thriller.' WALL STREET JOURNAL'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVERAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERYPrince Ludovico Ruspanti died falling a hundred and fifty feet in St Peter's church, in the heart of the Vatican. But did he fall, or was he pushed?I...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · THE CLASSIC BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 2 MILLION SOLD"[Merton] is an incredible source of light and comfort and humor." — Anne LamottThe famous spiritual autobiography of one of the most acclaimed faith leaders and theologians of our time.Credited as being the first major Catholic book to achieve widespread popularity in America, this celebrated Christian classic details Thomas Me...

Black Dogs is a dark and brooding masterpiece from Booker-prize winning Sunday Times bestselling author Ian McEwan.In 1946, June and Bernard set off on their honeymoon. Fired by their ideals and passion for one another, they had planned an idyllic holiday, but in France they witness an event that alters the course of their lives entirely.Forty years on, their son-in-law is trying to uncover the cause of their estrangement and is led back to this mo...

'An irresistibly brilliant examination of modern conscience' The New York TimesJean-Baptiste Clamence is a soul in turmoil. Over several drunken nights in an Amsterdam bar, he regales a chance acquaintance with his story. From this successful former lawyer and seemingly model citizen a compelling, self-loathing catalogue of guilt, hypocrisy and alienation pours forth. The Fall (1956) is a brilliant portrayal of a man who has glimpsed the hollownes...

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY GILES FODENQuerry, a world famous architect, is the victim of a terrible attack of indifference: he no longer finds meaning in art or pleasure in life. Arriving anonymously at a Congo leper village, he is diagnosed as the mental equivalent of a 'burnt-out case', a leper mutilated by disease and amputation. Querry slowly moves towards a cure, his mind getting clearer as he works for the colony. However, in the heat of the tropics, no relationship with a marri...

From the French Abbey of St Wandrille to the abandoned and awesome Rock Monasteries of Cappadocia in Turkey, the celebrated travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor studies the rigorous contemplative lives of the monks and the timeless beauty of their monastic surroundings. In his occasional retreats, the peaceful solitude and the calm enchantment of the monasteries was passed on as a kind of 'supernatural windfall' which A Time to Keep Silence so effortlessly records.

The heartwarming and profound story of Kiril Lakota, a cardinal who reluctantly steps out from behind the Iron Curtain to lead the Catholic Church as pope, and finds himself thrown into the machinations of Cold War politics. This international bestselling novel remains one of Morris West's best known works and is the first title in his Vatican Trilogy.The pope is dead and the corridors of the Vatican hum with intrigue as cardinals gather to elect his successor. The...

This diary of a monastic life is "a continuation of The Seven Storey Mountain . . . Astonishing" ( Commonweal).Chronicling six years of Thomas Merton's life in a Trappist monastery, The Sign of Jonas takes us through his day-to-day experiences at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, where he lived in silence and prayer for much of his life.Concluding with the account of Merton's ordination as a priest, this diary documents his gro...

A practical and playful guide to balancing and maintaining physical and mental harmony.The modern world can present the body as a machine that just needs to be regularly exercised. However, it is a remarkably sensitive organ in which a lot of our pain and hope is stored and that we need to interpret and handle with subtlety. This impact of our body upon our mind is something which needs to be explored as it is easy to pay attention to one more than the other and to ...