Church of Marvels

Parry excels in character development. Her novel is a fascinating study in alienation, set in a time when Manhattan, at least from a distance, seemed like the promised land… a strength of Parry’s novel is her willingness to look directly into the shadows. This is an unvarnished vision of the 19th century, the Gilded Age by way of Quentin Tarantino… the writing is often exquisite and Parry’s imagery is breathtaking - Emily St. John Mandel author of STATION ELEVEN, New York Times

This quite literally marvellous novel takes you on a hallucinatory ride through old New York, until the four threads of its protagonists’ lives tangle and tighten like a noose. Irresistible - Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of ROOM

Like the late-19th-century circus attraction of its title, Parry’s impressive debut is startling, full of wonders, and built around the bizarre; furthermore, it has compassion for human difference at its heart… Parry vividly brings her characters to life and captures the underbelly of 1895 New York - a place of baby sellers, opium dens, and brothels where what is painful and what is profitable merge. Her novel satisfies as a complex historical fiction, a compelling mystery, and an insightful exploration of such themes as otherness and outsider identity - Publisher’s Weekly

Church of Marvels is a beautifully written tale with twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I loved the circus-seaside atmosphere mingled with the grit of turn of the century New York, and the large cast of characters possessed with such spirit to survive in terrible circumstances. There were surprises and secrets on every corner, right to the very end, and a bittersweet finale to satisfy the journey taken. A skillful triumph, undertaken with masterful scope. - Jessie Burton, bestselling author of The Miniaturist

bursts with extraordinary, Dickensian-style details of 1895 New York… Emphasizing the plight of women, orphans, and society’s nonconforming outcasts, the setting is superbly showcased, with its medley of sights and smells both wretched and wondrous - Booklist

Completely wonderful, beautifully written and the pages turned themselves. - Lindsay Hawdon, author of Jakob’s Colours