Mariette in Ecstasy
Mariette in Ecstasy
Author: Ron Hansen
Desc: The highly acclaimed and provocatively rendered story of a young postulant's claim to divine possession and religious ecstasy. In 1906 a beautiful seventeen year old postulant enters the convent of the Sisters of the Crucifixion in upstate New York. When she begins to bleed from her hands feet and side the entire community is thrown into turmoil. Is Mariette a cunning sham or sexually hysterical or does God stalk her like a pitiless lover? Mariette in Ecstasy is a stunning immersion into the society of a small convent at the turn of the century where a mysterious and ultimately harrowing world lies beneath the lovely placid surface of everyday life. With Mariette In Ecstasy critically acclaimed author Ron Hansen again powerfully demonstrates his gift for brilliantly recreating time and place. As intriguing as The Name Of The Rose as sensually hypnotic as Marguerite Duras' The Lover this is an intimate portrait of a fascinating young woman in the grip of an intractable fate and it raises provocative questions about the complex nature of passionate faith. Exquisitely crafted Mariette in Ecstasy is a spellbinding novel that marks a new level of achievement in one of our most gifted writers. ~ from 1991 hardcover dustjacket