THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

A powerful story of a mission gone awry and a marriage in crisis, for fans of Barbara Kingsolver, Ann Tyler and Lily King

When Bea Hanlon follows her preacher husband Max to a remote island in the Pacific, she soon sees that their mission will bring anything but salvation. For Advent Island is a place beyond the reaches of even her most fitful imaginings. It's not just the rats and the hordes of mosquitos and the weevils in the powdered milk. Past the confines of their stuffy little house, amidst the damp and the dust and the sweltering heat, are the stirrings of much darker forces. Rumours are spreading of devil-chasers, who roam the island on the hunt for evil spirits. And then are the noises from the church at night, and Bea's nagging, unshakeable sensation that
someone is watching her.

Yet, to the amusement of the locals and the bafflement of her husband, Bea gradually adapts to life on the island. But with the dreadful events heralded by the arrival of an unexpected, wildly irritating and always humming house guest, Advent Island becomes a hostile place once again. And before long, trapped in the jungle and in the growing fever of her husband's insanity, Bea finds herself fighting for her freedom, and for her life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anbara Salam is half-Palestinian and half-Scottish, and grew up in London. She studied at the American University of Beirut, the University of York, and has worked in France, Japan, and Vanuatu. Anbara has a PhD in Theology and is now a research associate at the University of Oxford.