The Leper's Companions

In this fascinatingly imaginative novel, Julia Blackburn has decimated all the rules, creating a magical tale that is part fable, part allegory, part present, part past, and wholly genuine and poetic. 

"Profound... dreamy... Blackburn [has] made something deep and poetic."  -  Minneapolis Star Tribune

The unnamed protagonist has recently lost someone she loved, and her solution is to abandon the present and the overwhelming pain.  The seamless narrative lands her in a medieval seaside village where mermaids wash ashore, devils haunt in packs, a child is born with the head of a fish, and where one day, quite out of nowhere, there emerges a sage and wandering leper.  The leper leads a small group of villagers, including the protagonist, on a journey to Jerusalem, a harrowing pilgrimage that compels all the travellers to confront their deepest selves. 

"This slim book possesses a remarkable intensity... [A] hypnotic vision of the worlds horror and beauty, banality and sacredness - and of the frailty and splendour of the human mind."  -  The New York Times Book Review

Exquisite and lyrical, The Lepers Companions is a heart-rending tale by one of our most fiercely original storytellers.