Synopses & Reviews
A spellbinding confession of what it means to abandon one life for another, The Devoted asks what it takes, and what you’ll sacrifice, to find enlightenment.
Nicole Hennessy’s life revolves around her Zen practice at the Boston Zendo, seeking solace in the tenets of Buddhism to the chagrin of her Irish Catholic family. After a decade of grueling spiritual practice under her Master’s tutelage, living on a shoestring budget as a shop clerk, Nicole has become dangerously entangled with her mentor. As Nicole confronts her past — a drug-fueled year spent fleeing her family’s loaded silences and guilt-laden "Our Fathers" — and reinvents herself in New York City, her Master’s intoxicating voice pursues her, an electrifying whisper on the other end of the phone. Somehow, he knows everything.
In deft, soaring prose that bristles with psychological and erotic tension, Blair Hurley crafts a thrilling exploration of Nicole’s ecstatic quest for spirituality.
Review
“Quietly chilling....This thoughtful novel carefully untangles the often knotty interconnection between romantic and religious love, revealing the dangers inherent in each without denying their value.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“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
Review
“A thoughtful exploration of faith, surrender, and ecstasy.” Kirkus
Review
“A belated coming-of-age novel with a quest at its core, The Devoted is an assured and promising debut.” Vogue
Synopsis
Nicole Hennessy's life revolves around her Zen practice at the Boston Zendo, seeking solace in the tenets of Buddhism to the chagrin of her Irish Catholic family. After a decade of grueling spiritual practice under her Master's tutelage, living on a shoestring budget as a shop clerk, Nicole has become dangerously entangled with her mentor. As Nicole confronts her past--a drug-fueled year spent fleeing her family's loaded silences and guilt-laden Our Fathers--and reinvents herself in New York City, her Master's intoxicating voice pursues her, an electrifying whisper on the other end of the phone. Somehow, he knows everything.
In deft, soaring prose that bristles with psychological and erotic tension, Blair Hurley crafts a thrilling exploration of Nicole's ecstatic quest for spirituality.
About the Author
Blair Hurley is a Pushcart Prize winner whose work has been published in West Branch and Mid-American Review, among others. A native of Boston, she now lives in Toronto, where she teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto.
Blair Hurley on PowellsBooks.Blog
It’s Good Friday, and I’m remembering the thick white stockings that used to come out of the drawer just once a year, every year when I was a little girl, the ones with the runs behind my knees and the crotch that kept creeping lower every year, requiring secret yanks throughout the day. That and the shiny little Mary Janes with the tiny buckles...
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