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. . 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 the villagers including the protagonist on a journey to Jerusalem a harrowing pilgrimage that compels all the travelers to confront their deepest selves.. Exquisite and lyrical The Lepers Companions is a heart-rending tale by one of our most fiercely original storytellers.