The Divine Economy of Salvation - Softcover

Although we all remember the small cruelties of our teenage years, Sister Angela has darker secrets than most. And when a heavy package lacking a return address is sent to her Ottawa convent, she knows without opening it what it will contain. In her languorously written novel, The Divine Economy of Salvation, Priscila Uppal explores the shadow worlds of guilt, fear, and atonement. For 25 years, Angela has been dreading exposure for her role in a hazing ritual that went horribly awry. Her need to hide adds another metaphoric layer to her choice to "take the veil." It is no irony, perhaps, that her adolescent clique at boarding school was called The Sisterhood, for Angela has only moved from one cloistered existence to another, a balanced equation in The Divine Economy of Salvation. The arrival of the package is followed by the appearance at the convent of Kim, a homeless pregnant girl, who is assigned to work with Angela. True redemption, in the terms of this excellent debut novel, requires more than a backward glance. --Regina Marler

Priscila Uppal lives in Toronto, where she teaches full time in the Humanities division at York University. The Divine Economy of Salvation is her first novel.