Fludd

by Hilary Mantel

Book Overview

One dark and stormy night in 1956, a stranger named Fludd mysteriously turns up in the dismal village of Fetherhoughton. He is the curate sent by the bishop to assist Father Angwin-or is he? In the most unlikely of places, a superstitious town that understands little of romance or sentimentality, where bad blood between neighbors is ancient and impenetrable, miracles begin to bloom. No matter how copiously Father Angwin drinks while he confesses his...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805062734
• ISBN13: 9780805062731
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

The beauty of everyday magic!

This little magical book is a joy to read and can be finished in an afternoon. It focuses on a small, imaginary village in England during the 1950s. The main characters are those associated with the Catholic Church there, and a visitor (Fludd) who quietly changes the way they live. The book is full of themes of alchemy and reincarnation, both in a magical and spiritual, even religious, sense. I personally love books that incorporate bits of magic into everyday life, and this one certainly fits the bill! Mantel's characters are very well-drawn and engaging. I highly recommend this incredibly imaginative and endearing book!

THE ELUSIVE FATHER FLUDD

This is a most unusual story, and I hardly know how todescribe what I've read. It reminds me of so manyBritish films that I've seen over the years where you never know exactly what's going on, but you like it anyway.In FLUDD we're presented with an obscure town in England called Fetherhoughton. This is not your lovely littleEnglish village where the characters of Rosamund Pilcherlive. No, this seems to be a dark and depressing place which is surrounded by moors. Within this town there isa church located next to a convent of nuns. The parish priest, Father Angwin is a seemingly kind man who has aproblem with faith: he has lost his. His verydisagreeable Bishop is always after Father Angwin tomake changes and modernize his church. In fact,the Bishop makes some ridiculous demands which theparish fulfills and then insinuates that Father Angwinneeds assistance. Enter Father Fludd who apparently isthe new curate and has come to rescue the church and the people of Fetherhoughton.Father Angwin, his housekeeper, Agnes Dempsey, and theyoung Irish nun, Sister Philomena all need help in one wayor other. Then, there is the very sinister Judd McEvoy who runs the town's tobacco shop. He appears to cast adark cloud over everything. Father Fludd definitely makes a difference, but who is he and where does hecome from? None of the other characters seem ableto describe the mysterious Fludd.A story unlike any other. An excellent read!

Atmospheric, haunting, lovely

Fludd was my first Hilary Mantel book, and I'm thrilled there are a half-dozen or so for me to read. I hope they're equally funny and creative. Mantel offers a vivid portrait of the dismal little town of Fetherhoughton, its spiritually troubled residents and the mysterious stranger who shakes things up for everyone. Although the scope of the story is small, I was completely caught up in the world of the atheist Father Angwin, the confused young Sister Philomena and, of course, the enigmatic Fludd. As an added bonus, the book is occasionally laugh-out-loud funny.

A beguiling and scary tale of a Catholic parish

Did you ever look at a priest during mass and wonder if he believes it all? Here is a wonderful old priest who does not, and a story of how he handles that, a "reformer" bishop, a mysterious curate, a type-A housekeeper, and the usual collection of nuns. I honestly could not put the book down, and I recommend it highly to all my friends.

Probably the best of her earlier books.

This extraordinary work in her earlier, lighter style is more accessible than "A Change of Climate." Its eponynous character is a priest -- or is he? Sent to assist a priest in a northern English parish, Fludd engages the Catholic community in unusual ways. The author's signature clarity and dark humor are consistently evident, both in the limning of parish personalities and in the ways in which Fludd brings about his transformations. There is an episode that is perhaps the closest Mantel has ever come to a sex scene, handled with utter delicacy. "Fludd" is a bravura performance and resoundingly satisfying, and it's a pity it has never been released on this side of the pond.