Helen Dunmore, author of The Siege
“A moving, absorbing story … Kathy Page writes beautifully, combining strong storytelling with emotional candor.”
Book Description
A young girl grows up an outsider, then becomes drawn into the life of a local family with some curious beliefs. They treat her as a daughter and take her away with them to a religious holiday camp. It is here that she is introduced to the Finnish Envallist branch of Protestantism and here that events start to take a terrible turn. Rejected by some of the sectarians for her non-commitment to their beliefs, Natalie creates a rift in the group which culminates in a climactic scene where she is gravely injured. Later, as an adult in Finland, she tries to make sense of what happened and to unlock the secret origins of Envallism itself.
From the Publisher
Thirteen–year–old Natalie Baron is adrift in the world and looking for something or someone to latch on to; when she meets Barbara Hern and her family, followers of an extreme Protestant sect founded by Tuomas Envall, Natalie slowly insinuates herself into their lives. But when she inadvertently creates a rift in the group, events begin to take a terrible turn. Three decades later, living in Finland in a tiny wooden house surrounded by melting ice, Natalie researches the life of Tuomas Envall in an attempt to understand the devastating events that changed not only her face but also the course of her life. By turns a heart–rending story of human need, passionate belief, and the loss of innocence, The Story of My Face is a also a skillfully crafted psychological thriller.
About the Author
Kathy Page was born in London. She spent several months in Finland researching this book and is currently living on a remote Canadian island with her husband and children for a year.
Story of My Face FROM THE PUBLISHER
Thirteen–year–old Natalie Baron is adrift in the world and looking for something or someone to latch on to; when she meets Barbara Hern and her family, followers of an extreme Protestant sect founded by Tuomas Envall, Natalie slowly insinuates herself into their lives. But when she inadvertently creates a rift in the group, events begin to take a terrible turn. Three decades later, living in Finland in a tiny wooden house surrounded by melting ice, Natalie researches the life of Tuomas Envall in an attempt to understand the devastating events that changed not only her face but also the course of her life. By turns a heart–rending story of human need, passionate belief, and the loss of innocence, The Story of My Face is a also a skillfully crafted psychological thriller.
FROM THE CRITICS
Kirkus Reviews
London novelist Page's first US appearance recounts the trauma of an emotionally and physically disfigured woman who makes sense of her tragic past. Like many academics, Natalie Baron has a quiet and rather lonely childhood. The only offspring of a single mother, she spends much of her growing-up time roaming the streets while her mother "entertained" gentlemen callers at home. On one of these rambles, the 13-year-old meets Barbara and John Hern, a devout Protestant couple who lived nearby with their 14-year-old son Mark. Members of a tiny Lutheran sect founded by a 19th-century Finnish pastor named Tuomas Envall, the Herns (like all Envallists) take the commandment against "graven images" so literally that they won't look at pictures or drawings of any kind. Brought up without television, storybooks, paintings, or even maps, Mark Hern develops into an intensely serious boy, and Natalie finds herself strangely drawn to him. Comforted by the atmosphere of order and discipline in the Hern house, she begins visiting them every day. Mark, sensing that Natalie will never be a true believer, treats her coolly, but Barbara (whose own daughter had died in infancy) becomes fond of the girl and eventually asks her to accompany the family on a holiday. We know (in flashbacks made from 30 years later on) that Natalie was horribly injured during that trip and that she eventually became a professor of religion and an expert on the life of Tuomas Envall. But we don't learn the cause of Natalie's injury, or the final discoveries of her research, until story's end. Although the true tale of Envall's life isn't as dramatic as the tragedy that nearly killed Natalie, it's explosive in its own way andexplains a good deal-as does Natalie's obsessive interest in learning the reality behind the myths. Quietly powerful, with considerable emotional depth: an intriguing account of tortured faith and thwarted desire.
Art & Photography
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