The Violent Bear it Away

Flannery O'Connor's second and final novel, a dark and absorbing southern Gothic conflict between the sacred and the profane. The Violent Bear It Away was described on its publication as 'one of the most original and strange books of its decade' by the Spectator. It displays her astonishing gifts for satire with compassion and for pathos with humour. It tells the story of Francis Marion Tarwater, an orphan who lives 'backcountry' with his great uncle in Powderhead, Tennessee. Before the old man dies, he prophesies Tarwater's fate: 'the Lord will call him to be a prophet'. As in her other work, Flannery O'Connor unfolds a compelling tale of obsession and religious conflict in the Deep South.