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Date Posted: 17:07:11 04/23/04 Fri
Author: Syl
Subject: The Wonder Worker

Here's the latest! I've never read Susan Howatch before, but this looks interesting! Thanks, Gwen, for sending this in!

TITLE: The Wonder Worker, The High Flyer, The Heartbreaker

AUTHOR: Susan Howatch

GENRE: Fiction


This is a series of three books whose stories revolve around the healing centre at the City of London church of St Benet's by the Wall. The first two books, A Question of Integrity (The Wonder-worker in the US) and The High Flyer are also excellent books but I think The Heartbreaker was my favourite of the three. The trilogy is a spin off from Susan Howatch’s Starbridge Series which are also fantastic reads but there’s no way I can review the whole lot of them so I’ll stick to these for the time being. Here is a brief description of the three books taken from Amazon.co.uk


A Question of Integrity (UK) The Wonder-Worker (US)

When Alice, shy, dumpy, bored and unhappy with herself, wanders into the City of London during her lunch hour, she stumbles without warning into a situation that will revolutionise her life. Brought up by a strict maiden aunt devoted to rationalism, Alice hardly foresees that she'll be drawn into the mysterious, seemingly irrational world of a healing centre based at a church, where chaos and moral breakdown is an ever-present threat to the off-beat but very human inhabitants who struggle to help others survive the maelstrom of modern life. There's Lewis, the irascible traditionalist, a priest of the old school who has problems dealing with women, homosexuals and the liberal spirit of the age; Rosalind, who appears so glamorous and successful but is in truth unhappy and unfulfilled; Francie, a woman who may or may not be deluded but who burns above all to be loved; Stacy, the naive young trainee searching for the right direction as he becomes increasingly lost; and finally Nicholas, the one-time shady wonder-worker now determined to stay honest - even as he finds himself drawn towards danger, damage and demoralisation.

The High Flyer
WHEN YOU LIVE THE DREAM, YOU LIVE THE CONSEQUENCES... Cool, blonde Carter Graham is a successful lawyer who believes she is well on the way to reaching all the goals listed in her glamorous life plan: first-class job, a stylish flat in the City of London, and marriage to the man of her dreams, Kim Betz. But Carter forgot that sometimes the best laid dreams turn into nightmares. Kim's ex-wife Sophie starts to stalk her and Kim turns from being the self-contained, controlled husband into a man who lies not only about his past but about his present, too. Carter finds herself drawn into an expanding web of deceit, corruption and evil which eventually threatens not only her sanity but her life. What is it that Sophie is trying so hard to tell her? Who is the sinister Mrs Mayfield, who has such a malign influence on Kim? And what is the significance of the other new man in Carter's life, her secretary Eric Tucker? Carter seeks help from the healers of St. Benet’s, the enigmatic Nicholas Darrow, the eccentric Lewis Hall, and the kind, thoughtful Alice but even they cannot save her from a searing ordeal as she struggles to uncover the truth about the tormented man she has married.



The Heartbreaker

The City of London in the 1990s is a dark, adrenaline- charged square mile deep in recession, where sex is just another commodity and keeping one's integrity is a daily struggle. Gavin Blake is riding high. He's up to his neck in money, sex and sleaze, but he's young, and handsome and he's making a lot of money. Carta Graham wants nothing more than to forget her life as a high- flying lawyer, so she's buried herself in a fund-raising project for the City Church of St Benet's. When she meets Gavin, she thinks the only thing they share is a temporary sexual attraction, but she's wrong. They are about to change each other's lives forever. For Gavin comes to see that in order to survive he must escape from the harrowing world he inhabits. His fight for freedom will be hard and fierce, but Carta, searching for her own freedom from the past, is with him every step of the way.

For some reason I am finding it difficult to put into words what a huge impression these books had on me. Not in the normal way but in an immensely spiritual way. I suppose you could say that they give the reader hope; an awareness that there are good people out there and that good can come out of even the most horrible evil. All three of the books are very spiritual and packed with emotion. I’ve even read of people becoming ‘closet Christian’s’ after reading them and I can see why. Don’t be put off by this though, they are not preachy books, far from it. They show that we all have problems and sometimes the lives of the last people you would expect are unravelling as they strive to help others.

Susan Howatch is a very clever writer. Her characters are very real and the books are written in the first person but the story is told from the perspective of two or three characters so you get to see the same story unfolding from different points of view. After reading the first of these books I traipsed around the City of London searching for a City Church with a healing centre in the crypt. Hmm, only time I’ve done anything that stupid before is when I dragged the family to Scotland looking for a red heided six foot Highlander, but then that’s another story.


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Replies:

[> Thanks, Syl, I've been a huge admirer or Ms. Howatch for about 20 years. I loved Cashelmara and The Wheel of Fortune (both volumns) . I read the first in a trilogy that seemed centered in the C of E, but it sounds like she's continued to expand and enlarge her writing skills. -- Brookita, 00:26:13 04/24/04 Sat


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[> Way to go, Gwen - that's great! Love the last two lines - hahahahahaha. Hugs! -- Judie, 00:39:29 04/24/04 Sat


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[> Thanks Gwen!! These sure sound very interesting and your enthusiasm is a plus too :-)! I'll put her on my list and will certainly try her! -- Antje, 01:08:44 04/25/04 Sun


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[> I haven't read Susan Howatch for years. I read her first few books and loved them, then I went off her but it was so long ago that I can't remember the titles of the books which I didn't like. This series sounds really good so I'll have to give her a try again as I did like her early work very much. -- Kirsten, 13:22:33 04/25/04 Sun


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[> I havent read these, but wanted to check in since you were checking! Does this mean I should stop looking at hymms in the hymnals and thinking.......oh maybe Jamie would of sang this one! LOL -- M&M, 20:54:11 04/25/04 Sun


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[> [> Hahahah Michelle, actually I am making a list of all those who haven't posted here and they will be getting 100 lines off me saying ' I must support Syl's book review board' ' I must support Syl's book review board' etc etc, so its a good thing you did check in. *g* -- Gwen, 10:23:14 04/26/04 Mon


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[> Thank you, Gwen. They sound great. Don't you love when books have such a personal effect on you? -- GinC, 05:18:09 04/26/04 Mon


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[> [> thanks gwen--havena read these but i did read penmarric and cashelmara years ago and thought the were wonderful--mebbe it's time to revisit cornwall:0) thanks for the review:) -- ali cat, 06:16:33 05/06/04 Thu


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[> Alright, I haven't read any of Howatch's work, but it looks as if I'm going looking soon! They sound terrific. Thanks for the review. -- susancm, 09:55:24 05/19/04 Wed


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[> Susan Howatch -- Kristen Manning, 04:31:38 12/23/04 Thu

I too loved her earlier works - the sagas - but the ones with a religious bent sadly bore me a bit. Am I just too shallow?!?!?


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[> Susan Howatch -- Dyann S, 09:36:56 02/08/06 Wed

Susan Howatch is one of my favorite authors. The Starbridge Series, of which the 3 books mentioned above are the last, (there are 6 earlier books) are about people involved with the Anglican Church in the 20th century. So in the first 6 books you get to learn about the parents of some of the characters in these last 3 books. I love how she shows plot lines from different angles - one book is from one person's perspective and the next book is from another, but sometimes covering the same events. One of her recurring themes is you never know what is going on in someone else's life - someone who appears to have a perfect life and happy marriage has a lot going on that the world knows nothing about. I recommend her highly.


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