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On an unnamed island, in a Gothic hospital sitting in the shadow of a volcano, a wordless orphan girl works on the wards housing the insane and the incapable. When a silent, unmoving and unnerving new patient - a foreigner - arrives at the hospital, strange phenomena occur, bizarre murders take place, and the lives of the patients and the island's inhabitants are thrown into turmoil. What happens between them is an extraordinary exploration of consciousness, reality and madness. Wonders of a Godless World, the new novel from Miles Franklin-winner Andrew McGahan, is a huge and dramatic beast of a book. It is a thought-provoking investigation into character and consciousness, a powerful cautionary tale, and a head-stretching fable about the earth, nature and the power of the mind. It is utterly unlike anything you've read before - it will take you by the shoulders and hold you in its grip to its nerve-tingling finale.
A silent, enigmatic patient arrives at a remote, island-bound Gothic hospital, triggering a series of inexplicable events that threaten the fragile reality of the institution. The protagonist, a wordless orphan girl working within the hospital's wards, finds her existence disrupted by the arrival of this mysterious foreigner. As bizarre murders begin to plague the island, she must navigate the intersection of madness and consciousness while the physical environment—dominated by a looming volcano—mirrors the internal turmoil of the inhabitants. The narrative unfolds as a dense, atmospheric exploration of the human mind, utilizing a detached yet observant perspective to examine the boundaries between sanity and the supernatural.
This novel is characterized by its ambitious scope and its deliberate departure from conventional narrative structures. The work leans heavily into its Gothic roots, utilizing the isolated island setting to heighten the sense of psychological unease. Readers and critics often highlight the author's focus on the mechanics of consciousness, noting that the book prioritizes thematic exploration over traditional plot progression. The narrative style is dense and atmospheric, suggesting a reading experience that demands significant attention to the interplay between the physical environment and the internal states of the characters.
Page Count:
336
Publication Date:
2010-05-27
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN-10:
0007352654
ISBN-13:
9780007352654
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