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Study for obedience

"A woman moves from the place of her birth to a remote northern country to be housekeeper to her brother, whose wife has just left him. The youngest child of many siblings--more than she cares to remember --from earliest childhood she has attended to their every desire, smoothed away the slightest d...

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Main Author: Bernstein, Sarah (Literature teacher) (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language:English
Published: Toronto : Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2023.
Subjects:
Women > Fiction.
Housekeepers > Fiction.
Siblings > Fiction.
Xenophobia > Fiction.
Country life > Fiction.
Domestic fiction.
Psychological fiction.
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Summary:"A woman moves from the place of her birth to a remote northern country to be housekeeper to her brother, whose wife has just left him. The youngest child of many siblings--more than she cares to remember --from earliest childhood she has attended to their every desire, smoothed away the slightest discomfort with perfect obedience, with the highest degree of devotion. Soon after she arrives, a series of unfortunate events occurs--collective bovine hysteria; the demise of a ewe and her nearly-born lamb; a local dog's phantom pregnancy; a potato blight. She notices that the local suspicion about incomers in general seems to be directed particularly in her case. What is clear is that she is being accused of wrongdoing, but in a language she cannot understand and so cannot address. And however diligently and silently she toils in service of the community, still she feels their hostility growing, pressing at the edges of her brother's property. And inside the house, although she tends to her brother and his home with the utmost care and attention, he too begins to fall ill..."--
Item Description:"First published in the United Kingdom by Granta Books in 2023." -- Title page verso.
"Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 2023" -- Page 1 of cover.
"Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist, 2023" -- Page 1 of cover.
"Granta's Best of Young British Novelists, 2023" -- Page 1 of cover.
Physical Description:192 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-193)
ISBN:9781039009066
1039009069
Author Notes:SARAH BERNSTEIN is from Montreal, Canada, and lives in Scotland. Her writing has appeared in Granta among other publications. Her first novel, The Coming Bad Days , was published in 2021. In 2023 she was named as one of Granta 's Best of Young British Novelists.

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