Product Description

"A SKILLFUL BLEND OF CHARACTER, PHILOSOPHY AND
NARRATIVE. . .Formidable personalities embroil themselves in ruthless power struggles that would make a corporate raider blush."
--The Washington Post Book World
It is 1965, and Charles Ashworth has attained the plum position of bishop of Starbridge, an honor that keeps him in a heady whirl of activity that would exhaust the most seasoned corporate executive. With the invaluable support of his minions and his attractive, unsinkable wife, Ashworth stands against the amorality and decadence of the age--"Anti-Sex Ashworth." He slays his opponents by being a tough, efficient, confident churchman, the torments of his past long since dead and buried.
And then the unexpected, the unthinkable, strikes.
Suddenly Ashworth finds himself staring into the chasm of all the lies hes been telling himself for years: about his marriage, his children, even his views on the Church. And as he suspects his old nemesis and dean, Neville Aysgarth, of drinking too much, of financial chicanery, of--God forbid--having an affair, Ashworth discovers to his horror that he is tempted to commit the very acts that he has so publicly
denounced. . . .
"ENTHRALLING. . .Rich, dense, almost indecently entertaining."
--San Jose Mercury News
"POWERFUL. . .MIRACULOUS."
--Booklist (starred review)
SELECTED BY THE BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61136 in Books
• Published on: 1996-05-01
• Released on: 1996-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 640 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This sixth and final volume in Howatch's series of novels concerning the church of England revolves around the spiritual and moral upheavals of the 1960s.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This final novel in a double trilogy about the Church of England in the 1930s and the 1960s is a splendid conclusion to the series (begun with Glittering Images, LJ 6/1/87) and a powerful combination of psychological insight, theological depth, and storytelling ability. Howatch simultaneously provides her reader with both marvelous entertainment and genuine insight into the human condition. The narrator for this volume is Charles Ashworth, now Bishop of Starbridge, who staunchly, even self-righteously, defends traditional values. This continues until crisis-and his wife's journal-reveal to him the "shadow" side of his own life and its effect on his two sons; his dean, Stephen Aysgarth; other clergy; several women; and himself. The end is phoenix-like, as characters rise from their own ashes, yet never unrealistic. Highly recommended for all libraries.
Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood Coll., Farmville, Va.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The sixth and final part of Howatch's Church of England series is a powerful advocate of the whole, matching the drama and emotional reach of Glamorous Powers (1988) and Ultimate Prizes (1989). Charles Ashworth, the narrator of the first in the series (Glittering Images, 1987), is even more attractive as an aging intellectual bishop struggling to come to terms with the very un-Christian 1960s. His attempt to maintain discipline, faith, and a relationship with God in the midst of a troubling secular world goes right to the heart of the Howatch project in these six magnificent novels. There's really very little like this work in modern literature. There are hints of Trollope, hints of C. S. Lewis, in these pages, but nowhere else does one discover the distinctive genius of Anglican theology--intelligent, commonsensical, optimistic--so movingly wrapped in the heartbreaking dramas of husbands, wives, fathers, children, and spiritual guides. At the center of each novel is a tragedy, beyond which is an epiphany the narrator cannot quite grasp. Charles' tragedy is the loss of his closest companion, but, of course, his problems go much deeper. The shield of his glittering image, shattered once before, six novels ago, is shattered again. But Howatch's novels are not so much about tragedy as about the way ordinary men and women struggle through humility and forgiveness toward the far horizon of redemption. Little more can be said about this miraculous cycle of novels. These are works that deserve to endure well beyond the troubled age that spawned them. Stuart Whitwell

Customer Reviews

the best view we can get of absolute truths
I listened to what I wanted from a work called "Absolute Truths"-I who am desperately conservative in Christianity and most things. After Charles Ashworth's triumph in "Glittering Images," and his overall positive portrayal in the books between that and this, I didn't want to find out that the truth I thought he had found, and that Howatch suggested he had found, was a lie, another of the tragic misconceptions that Howatch regularly and regretfully demolishes in her characters ("Anti-Sex Ashworth" toppled by doubt and lust stronger than his convictions-what a depressing concept).

It wasn't. But in the interim between "Glittering Images" and "Absolute Truths," Ashworth's grip on the truth had shifted until he had become a false man holding a true thing, or, to put it another way, Ashworth had grown as much as he could during "Glittering Images," but he still had far to grow, and "Absolute Truths" pushed him farther.

Thus Howatch, as in the rest of this Starbridge series, follows a plot sequence of strength debilitating into weakness, then supernaturally resolved into strength (or truth to lies to truth, or any number of other ways may describe this spiritual falling and rising pattern). We cannot however assume that the characters will live happily ever after, that their lives are "solved," or even that the weakness resolved in the novel will never return in later years. Howatch's cruces do not involve perfect or perfectible people, but perfect moments of grace that make the rest of lives better or in some way bearable. In a sort of backhanded optimism, Ashworth writes in the midst of his revelations, "Dimly I realised that this state of companionable hell could be classified as a form of survival." At the end of "Absolute Truths," Howatch permits Ashworth an idyllically happy old age and a platform for reminiscence, a sort of sop to him and to her for six dramatically painful novels in the series, but we must not forget that after "Glittering Images" Ashworth needed "Absolute Truths" to correct him further. After receiving revelation that revolutionised his life, he needed more revelation. As such, these novels are some of the most true-to-life of any fiction I've read portraying the Christian way of living. They give hope, not for all things to turn out alright, but for all things to "intermingle," as Ashworth insists, for good-and for there to be moments, rising above the doubt and pain, in which we may see God and absolute truths as clearly as our eyes can function. We may live a long time, decades, in the strength vouchsafed by these moments. Then we may need another, as Ashworth did.

Absolutely satisfying
Although this is the last book in the Starbridge series it is actually set in time before its immediate prequel, Mystical Paths. Howatch obviously had good reasons for doing this; no other book could have rounded up the series so perfectly, and certainly it was a delight to return to Chares Ashworh as narrator, who began the whole series. This time Charles is at the evening of his life. He has been the Bishop of Salisbury for some years.. Some of those nearest and dearest to him have passed away and he has to come to terms not only with the sense of loss, doubt and lack of direction, but also with his wayward Dean, Neville Ayesgarth, who still insists on going off on a tangent in affairs of the Cathedral. As in Scandalous Risks, scandal seems only around the corner and Charles has to develop very strong spiritual muscles in order to bring matters to an outcome worthy of a Christian.
I must not forget to mention that in this novel Starbridge Cathedral itself - in the other books merely a background stat - becomes a major character, and a star player during the Grande Finale The climax of this book is not only deeply moving, it is also absolutely perfect. As is the entire series.

More, Susan, Please!
I'm moved to write my own high praise of this Starbridge novel, the last and finest. I've reread the entire series at least three times, and a couple of the books more times than that. Susan Howatch is the _most_ wonderful writer! I have read all her early Gothic novels, and her middle period epic novels, and I loved them, too. But, when she started on her Church of England, Starbridge series, she really had something profound to say. I disagree with one of the reviewers of this one, though. I'm probably in the minority about this, but I was never very fond of Loretta and rather dismayed about what happened. However, Charles deserved the very best and I like to think they were happy together. What a marvelous series!! I also loved the next two novels which sort of continued the series. Thank you, Susan Howatch. Please give us more!