The landscape of mid-19th-century Massachusetts – weathered buildings, long, dusty dirt roads, fields of herbs and flowers (“touch-me-not, lady’s slipper, wild hyssop”) – forms the backdrop to Rachel Urquhart’s mesmerising debut. Adopting the language of the time (“Permit me to engage in the niceties of introduction”, writes one character), Urquhart interweaves the seemingly disparate narratives of 15-year-old farm girl Polly Kimball, Sister Charity, a young Shaker, and fire inspector Simon Pryor. They begin to fuse together when Polly and her brother, Ben, are handed over to the Shakers after she sets fire to her family farm, killing her abusive father. Sister Charity, tasked with teaching and caring for Polly, becomes enamoured with her after Polly experiences a vision, considered a sign of divinity. This is a complex and thrilling exploration of good and evil, friendship, family and faith. The Shaker community – rigid with rules and boundaries – is portrayed with sensitivity and understanding, as is the lasting trauma and shame resulting from sexual abuse. Despite being ripe with suffering and pain, The Visionist manages to be entertaining, passionate and hopeful.
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• This article was amended on the 16th December 2014 due to a factual error
