The Strangled Impulse - Softcover

Praise for Leaving Ardglass 'King offers a richly textured and deeply felt portrait of a society in flux and of individuals ensnared in their fallible humanity and helpless in the face of time. The dubious privilege of moral judgment is left to the reader in this outstanding novel.' - John Boland, Irish Independent 'A finely written and brave book that throws up uncomfortable truths and interesting parallels between hidden worlds, driven by ambitious men determined to survive.' - Dermot Bolger, The Sunday Business Post

The Strangled Impulse follows a young curate, who is uprooted from a comfortable middle-class parish to serve the pastoral needs of those who are on the edge in 1990s Ireland. Set against the backdrop of the Church's dwindling influence and an increased scritiny of priet's lives, this is the story of Father O'Neill, confronting both the resistance of a disaffected society and a battle between the demands of his calling and his own humanity. In the course of his work O'Neill meets a talented, attractive, yet wounded woman; gradually, together they form an alliance of the broken. He became a priest to save souls, yet now, following his vocation threatens to destroy him as he strives to remain an outsider looking in on other people's lives. O'Neill must decide: will he remain loyal to the promises he made to the bishop on ordination day, or give in to the powerful force of his desire for intimacy?