The Monk Downstairs

A Novel

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Inspiration & Meditation, Spirituality, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Monk Downstairs by Tim Farrington, HarperOne
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Tim Farrington ISBN: 9780062016751
Publisher: HarperOne Publication: June 29, 2010
Imprint: HarperOne Language: English
Author: Tim Farrington
ISBN: 9780062016751
Publisher: HarperOne
Publication: June 29, 2010
Imprint: HarperOne
Language: English

Rebecca Martin is a single mother with an apartment to rent and a sense that she has used up her illusions. I had the romantic thing with my first husband, thank you very much, she tells a hapless suitor. I'm thirty-eight years old, and I've got a daughter learning to read and a job I don't quite like. I don't need the violin music. But when the new tenant in her in-law apartment turns out to be Michael Christopher, on the lam after twenty years in a monastery and smack dab in the middle of a dark night of the soul, Rebecca begins to suspect that she is not as thoroughly disillusioned as she had thought.

Her daughter, Mary Martha, is delighted with the new arrival, as is Rebecca's mother, Phoebe, a rollicking widow making a new life for herself among the spiritual eccentrics of the coastal town of Bolinas. Even Rebecca's best friend, Bonnie, once a confirmed cynic in matters of the heart, urges Rebecca on. But none of them, Rebecca feels, understands how complicated and dangerous love actually is.

As her unlikely friendship with the ex-monk grows toward something deeper, and Michael wrestles with his despair while adjusting to a second career flipping hamburgers at McDonald's, Rebecca struggles with her own temptation to hope. But it is not until she is brought up short by the realities of life and death that she begins to glimpse the real mystery of love, and the unfathomable depths of faith.

Beautifully written and playfully engaging, this novel. is about one man wrestling with his yearning for a life of contemplation and the need for a life of action in the world. But it's Rebecca's spirit, as well as her relationships with Mary Martha, Phoebe, her irresponsible surfer ex-husband Rory -- and, of course, the monk downstairs -- that makes this story shine.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Rebecca Martin is a single mother with an apartment to rent and a sense that she has used up her illusions. I had the romantic thing with my first husband, thank you very much, she tells a hapless suitor. I'm thirty-eight years old, and I've got a daughter learning to read and a job I don't quite like. I don't need the violin music. But when the new tenant in her in-law apartment turns out to be Michael Christopher, on the lam after twenty years in a monastery and smack dab in the middle of a dark night of the soul, Rebecca begins to suspect that she is not as thoroughly disillusioned as she had thought.

Her daughter, Mary Martha, is delighted with the new arrival, as is Rebecca's mother, Phoebe, a rollicking widow making a new life for herself among the spiritual eccentrics of the coastal town of Bolinas. Even Rebecca's best friend, Bonnie, once a confirmed cynic in matters of the heart, urges Rebecca on. But none of them, Rebecca feels, understands how complicated and dangerous love actually is.

As her unlikely friendship with the ex-monk grows toward something deeper, and Michael wrestles with his despair while adjusting to a second career flipping hamburgers at McDonald's, Rebecca struggles with her own temptation to hope. But it is not until she is brought up short by the realities of life and death that she begins to glimpse the real mystery of love, and the unfathomable depths of faith.

Beautifully written and playfully engaging, this novel. is about one man wrestling with his yearning for a life of contemplation and the need for a life of action in the world. But it's Rebecca's spirit, as well as her relationships with Mary Martha, Phoebe, her irresponsible surfer ex-husband Rory -- and, of course, the monk downstairs -- that makes this story shine.

More books from HarperOne

Cover of the book Help by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book The Coming Catholic Church by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book Home to Harmony by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book The World's Last Night by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book The Gift of Change by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book Wabi Sabi Love by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book What God Has Joined Together by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book Diagrams for Living by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book Whole Detox by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book How to Make Disease Disappear by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book Never Again? by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book The Devil and Miss Prym by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book Buddhist Boot Camp by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book Life Is for Loving by Tim Farrington
Cover of the book The Starseed Transmissions by Tim Farrington
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy