Vermin. Vandalism. Violence. A foul stench pollutes the atmosphere within St. Aloysius Episcopal Church. Reverend Silas DeBassompierre is a young clergyman with a lot of enemies within his congregation; and he trusts no one, not even his capable and devoted administrative assistant, Grace. Is Satan responsible for the strange phenomena at St. Aloysius, or is a force far more subtle and sinister at work to sabotage the reverend's ministry? More than what meets the eye will inevitably be revealed when a tormented priest on the edge of the abyss performs . . . Lustration Rites!
Niniane Westvane wants to make the world a better place . . . especially for non-human animals. So when a chicken on her aunt's farm develops the ability to read and write, Niniane is certain that she's found in Charlie the perfect «spokes-chicken» for the animal liberation movement. But, as Charlie's own interests develop along unforeseen lines that lead to theological study and ultimately to the Vatican, Charlie, Niniane, and eventually the Church, become entangled in thorny questions about what it means to love, to believe, and to belong.
Expelled from school and without a friend, young Victor Flowers is sent by a mother at her wit’s end to spend a summer with his paternal grandmother and work in a family restaurant on the North Carolina coast. As if in spite of himself, Victor finds himself unexpectedly swept up into the concerns of this barely remembered branch of his family; his flinty but welcoming grandmother, his ambitious, intelligent, and indomitable cousin Shelby, and his meek Uncle Buzz, whose health is failing fast. Through coming to care for these strangers who are his kin, Victor comes also to a burgeoning understanding of some complex family dynamics that help to at once explain and dispel his sense of himself as having no real future. From the Edge of the World is the story of Victor’s confrontation with—and acceptance of— his beginnings.