Father Alberto and the Flying Girl

Dark and strange and wonderful' MARK HADDON, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'Hilarious, moving, and delightfully weird' JO HARKIN, author of The PretenderA bold, vivid and fiercely imaginative historical novel with an unforgettable narrator, exploring intolerance, kindness and what 'madness' really means. In a remote medieval parish, under the rule of a ruthless Abbess, hapless new priest Alberto is charged with guarding those deemed mad - and therefore godless. All `insane' villagers are locked in the Abbey dungeons, released only for the riotous Feast of the Holy Fool. Alberto's thankless task is to gather them again when the Feast ends - but as he comes to know them, he begins to question whether these so-called fools need saving at all. Only one always escapes him: the Flying Girl, a mysterious child who refuses to speak or be caught. As Alberto's sympathy deepens into defiance the Abbess calls in the Inferrant Brethren: a brutal religious inquisition with whom Alberto has history... With pressure mounting, Alberto must decide where he stands. Protecting the vulnerable may cost him everything.