{"product_id":"pastoral","title":"Pastoral","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere were plans for an official welcome. It was to take place the following Sunday. But those who came to the rectory on Father Pennants second day were the ones who could not resist seeing him sooner. Here was the man to whom they would confess the darkest things. It was important to feel him out. Mrs Young, for instance, after she had seen him eat a piece of her macaroni pie, quietly asked what he thought of adultery.Andr Alexis brings a modern sensibility and a new liveliness to an ageold genre, the pastoral.For his very first parish, Father Christopher Pennant is sent to the sleepy town of Barrow. With more sheep than people, its very bucolictoo much Barrow Brew on Barrow Day is the rowdiest it gets. Bu things arent so idyllic for Liz Denny, whose fianc doesnt want to decide between Liz and his more worldly mistress Jane, and for Father Pennant himself, who greets some miracles of naturemayors walking on water, talking sheepwith a profound crisis of faith.Its been clear since his debut novel, Childhood, that Alexis is one of our most distinctive and exacting prose stylists, and at its highest pitch, as in the breathtaking final paragraph, these are sentences that attain the level of the best music.  Montreal GazettePraise for Andr Alexiss previous books:Astonishing . . . an irresistible, oneofakind work.Quill \u0026amp; QuireAlexis [has an] astute understanding of the madly shimmering, beautifully weaving patterns created by what we have agreed to call memory.Ottawa CitizenAndr Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. His debut novel, Childhood, won the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Writers Trust Fiction Prize. His books include Asylum and Ingrid and the Wolf.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Coach House Books","offers":[{"title":"Alexis, Andr \/ paperback","offer_id":47840972800245,"sku":"SONG1552452867","price":12.33,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/5804\/8501\/files\/715JLqC98hL_6f656421-5ef3-4cb2-889c-d5bd1bdbd10f.jpg?v=1773752284","url":"https:\/\/ergodebooks.com\/products\/pastoral","provider":"Ergodebooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}