Minor Prophets
"Blair Hurley's generous, unblinking novel, examines life in and beyond an apocalyptic religious cult, a hallmark of the American condition, the author suggests, for reasons both irrational and justifiable."--New York Times
"A remarkable exploration of what it is to believe, to lose, and to start again." --Kirkus Reviews
"Readers will have a tough time turning away from this chilling dive into fanaticism."--Publishers Weekly
"Minor Prophets is a painfully intimate depiction of devotion and betrayal, love and abuse, a cult rendered movingly from the inside. With her stunning, elegant prose, Hurley peers deeply and compassionately at one girl-prophet, at the hurt we cause when we make sacrifices to a higher purpose, and at the ordinary love worth scrabbling toward --Liz Harmer, author, The Amateurs
"A haunting meditation on family, faith, and the devil inside, Minor Prophets follows the daughter of a cult leader as she tries to escape her father's long shadow. Blair Hurley has managed a rare feat, writing a page-turner with prose so beautiful, you'll also want to stop and linger over each chapter."--Laura Hankin, author, The Daydreams
"Minor Prophets is a story for our times, but it's also a timeless story about family and friendship, love and power, staying put and breaking free. It'll keep you turning pages late into the night, and leave you hollowed out when you turn the last page. If you need a guide for the end times, Hurley's who you want for the job."--Rachel Beanland, author, Florence Adler Swims Forever
"An emotionally incisive story about survival, complicity, and the long shadow cast by family and faith. Blair Hurley's characters leap off the page, struggling, stumbling, and continuing to try; I believed in them fully and doubtlessly."--Lauren O'Neal, editor, Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church
Deep in the remote wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Nora is growing up within a militant apocalyptic religious cult. When her father, the group's charismatic leader, discovers his young daughter's gift for speaking in tongues and prophesying, he employs her to recruit people in their community. But as she grows older, Nora begins to question her faith, her father and her predesignated role, and must choose between committing herself fully, or being exiled into the foreign and frightening world beyond.
Several years later, Nora is working as a hospice nurse in Chicago, struggling to navigate the baffling customs of the "normal" life she is now leading. When a letter arrives, warning her to "prepare herself," the lockbox of Nora's childhood is thrown open, sending her
hurtling back into the shattering truth of what really happened on the day of her escape.
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"A rich and entertaining novel about a woman, a seeker, whose life, existence and relationships are all centered around a devout Buddhist meditation practice in Boston―until they aren't. I couldn't put it down."
― Anne Lamott, author of Almost Everything: Notes on Hope
― New York Times Book Review "A belated coming-of-age novel with a quest at its core, The Devoted is an assured and promising debut."
― Vogue "Provocative... [A] terrifying but insightful warning not to look for easy answers offered by false prophets."
― Time "[Hurley's] hand is confident and steady as she layers Zen teachings into the already complicated history of her novel's focal character... Hurley leaves you thinking and sorting through feelings long after her final page."
― The Rumpus "In Blair Hurley's beautifully written first novel a young woman charts a spiritual journey into the rigors of Zen Buddhism in a Boston storefront Zendo, under the guidance of a charismatic Master who soon becomes her lover...A suspenseful and warmly engaging coming-of-age story."
― Joyce Carol Oates, author of A Book of American Martyrs "The Devoted is a beautifully written story of the seductions of faith, its many desperations both light and dark. A most absorbing and psychologically astute novel that announces Blair Hurley as a brave new talent."
― Chang-rae Lee, author of The Surrendered "Blair Hurley is a gorgeous writer. This novel brims with startling and organic metaphors that fuel, like Zen koans, the heart of a remarkable story. Unlike the Boston films of late, The Devoted gets the accents right."
― Anita Shreve, author of The Stars Are Fire "Blair Hurley's The Devoted is a thrilling, deep, fun, intense look at sex and faith, at East and West, at fraud and truth, at love and what it means to lose love. A remarkable debut, and more: a great read."
― Darin Strauss, author of More Than It Hurts You "In luminous prose, Blair Hurley explores the lines between devotion and entrapment, between the search for self and the attempt to lose oneself entirely. Beneath each measured line is a fiery intelligence. The Devoted is a beautiful debut."
― Kirstin Valdez Quade, author of Night at the Fiesta
