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The Western Wind
''The Western Wind'' is a 2018 novel by the English author Samantha Harvey. Set in the Somerset village of Oakham in 1491, it tells the story of the death of Thomas Newman, a wealthy landowner, from the perspective of John Reve, the village priest. The narrative structure is unorthodox, recounting four days in reverse order, beginning with Shrove Tuesday and ending with Shrove Saturday, the day of Newman's disappearance. The novel initially appears to follow the style of a detective story, as Reve assists the local dean in investigating Newman's disappearance and establishing if any of the villagers played a role in his death. The dean settles on two suspects: the local landowner, Lord Townshend, and Sarah Spenser, a gravely ill woman who falsely confesses to Newman's murder. In the final section (chronologically the first), it is revealed that Reve knew throughout the story that Newman's death was suicide, and that he has hidden the truth from the dean in order to protect Her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samantha Harvey
Samantha Harvey (born 1975) is an English novelist. She won the 2024 Booker Prize for her novel ''Orbital (novel), Orbital'', which drew on conventions from multiple genres and fields, including literary fiction, science fiction, and philosophy. Early life and education Harvey spent the first decade of her life in Ditton, Kent, near Maidstone, until her parents' divorce. After that, her mother moved to Ireland, and Harvey spent her teen years moving around with stints in York, Sheffield, and Japan. Harvey studied philosophy at the University of York and the University of Sheffield. She completed the Bath Spa University Creative Writing MA course in 2005, and has also completed a PhD in creative writing. Career Her first novel, ''The Wilderness (Harvey novel), The Wilderness'' (2009), is written from the point of view of a man developing Alzheimer's disease,"About" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Last Rites
The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church. They may be administered to those mortally injured, terminally ill, or awaiting execution. Last rites cannot be performed on someone who has already died. Last rites, in sacramental Christianity, can refer to multiple sacraments administered concurrently in anticipation of an individual's passing (such as Holy Absolution and Holy Communion). Catholic Church The Latin Church of the Catholic Church defines Last Rites as Viaticum ( Holy Communion administered to someone who is dying), and the ritual prayers of Commendation of the Dying, and Prayers for the Dead. The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is usually postponed until someone is near death. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reeve (England)
In Anglo-Saxon England, a reeve (Old English: ) was an administrative official serving the king or a lesser lord in a variety of roles. After the Norman Conquest, it was an office held by a man of lower rank, appointed as manager of a manor and overseer of the peasants. In this later role, historian H. R. Loyn observes, "he is the earliest English specialist in estate management." Types ''Reeve'' is a general term that could refer to a variety of administrative officials. Royal reeves worked for the king, but nobles and bishops also employed reeves. Some reeves served as estate managers, while others held positions in towns and boroughs. Royal reeves In the late 7th and early 8th centuries, royal reeves oversaw royal estates. By the 10th century, royal reeves performed a variety duties in shires and hundreds. They enforced legislation and royal decrees. They presided over local courts, carried out police functions, and witnessed sales. A royal reeve's authority often ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purgatory
In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul. A common analogy is dross being removed from gold in a furnace. In Magisterium, Catholic doctrine, purgatory refers to the final cleansing of those who died in the State of Grace, and leaves in them only "the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven"; it is entirely different from the punishment of Damnation, the damned and is not related to the forgiveness of sins for salvation. A forgiven person can be freed from his "unhealthy attachment to creatures" by Indulgence#Catholic teaching, fervent charity in this world, and otherwise by the non-vindictive "temporal (i.e. non-eternal) punishment" of purgatory. In late medieval times, metaphors of time, place and fire were frequently adopted. Catherine of Genoa (fl. 1500) re-framed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confessional
A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation. In the Catholic Church, confessions should occur only in a confessional or oratory, except under special circumstances or just reason. The confessional is usually a wooden structure, with a centre compartment—entered through a door or curtain—where the priest sits, and on each side there is a latticed opening for the penitents to speak through and a step on which they kneel. By this arrangement the priest is hidden, but the penitent is visible to the public. Confessionals sometimes form part of the architectural scheme of the church; many finely decorated specimens, dating from the late 16th and the 17th centuries, are found in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruton Abbey
Bruton Abbey in Bruton, Somerset was founded as a house of Augustinian canons in about 1127, and became an abbey in 1511, shortly before its dissolution in 1539. It was endowed with manors, churches and other properties in the area and also in Normandy in France. History According to the sixteenth century antiquary John Leland, Bruton was founded in about 1005 as a Benedictine monastery by Æthelmær the Stout, but it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was founded as an Augustinian priory in about 1127. In 1260 the priory exchanged its French possessions for land held by the Abbey of Troarn (nr Caen) at Runcton in Sussex and in Gloucestershire. There were many problems reported in the 15th century. John Schoyle became prior in 1419 and was accused in 1423 of having committed serious offences. In 1428 Bishop Stafford seems to have removed Schoyle from office, and in 1429, the latter was sent to live at the house of Augustinian Canons at Poughley in Berkshire. His suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Catholic Church. An archdeacon is often responsible for administration within an archdeaconry, which is the principal subdivision of the diocese. The ''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' has defined an archdeacon as "A cleric having a defined administrative authority delegated to him by the bishop in the whole or part of the diocese.". The office has often been described metaphorically as ''oculus episcopi'', the "bishop's eye". Catholic Church In the Latin Catholic Church, the post of archdeacon, originally an ordained deacon (rather than a priest), was once one of great importance as a sen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath, Somerset, Bath, and the county town is Taunton. Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of and a population of 965,424. After Bath (101,557), the largest settlements are Weston-super-Mare (82,418), Taunton (60,479), and Yeovil (49,698). Wells, Somerset, Wells (12,000) is a city, the second-smallest by population in England. For Local government in England, local government purposes the county comprises three Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas: Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and Somerset Council, Somerset. Bath and North East Somerset Council is a member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruton
Bruton ( ) is a small market town, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, north-west of Gillingham and south-west of Frome. The town and ward have a population of 2,907. The parish includes the hamlets of Wyke Champflower and Redlynch. Bruton has a museum of items from the Jurassic period onwards. It includes a table used by the author John Steinbeck on a six-month stay. The Brue is flood-prone – in 1768 it wrecked a stone bridge. The 242.8 mm of rain that fell on 28 June 1917 left a river watermark on a pub wall 20 feet above the mean. In 1984 a protective dam was built upstream. History The Church of St Mary, Bruton was founded by Ine of Wessex in the 7th century, Bruton was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Briuuetone'', meaning "Vigorously flowing river" from the Old English ''tor'' and Celtic ''briw'' meaning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821), are published by Times Media, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' were founded independently and have had common ownership only since 1966. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. ''The Times'' was the first newspaper to bear that name, inspiring numerous other papers around the world. In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as or , although the newspaper is of national scope and distribution. ''The Times'' had an average daily circulation of 365,880 in March 2020; in the same period, ''The Sunday Times'' had an average weekly circulation of 647,622. The two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 33: "[16c: from the feminine of ''Americus'', the Latinized first name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512). The name ''America'' first appeared on a map in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, referring to the area now called Brazil]. Since the 16th century, the term "New World" has been used to describe the Western Hemisphere, often referred to as the Americas. Since the 18th century, it has come to represent the United States, which was initially colonial British America until it established independence following the American Revolutionary War. The second sense is now primary in English: ... However, the term is open to uncertainties: ..." The term arose in the early 16th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
