Come Sunday, Isla Morley
Come Sunday, Isla Morley
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Come Sunday
A Novel

Author: Isla Morley

Narrator: Jennifer Wiltsie

Unabridged: 11 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/26/2009


Synopsis

A wonderful new storyteller unleashes a soaring debut that sweeps from the hills of Hawaii to the veldt of South Africa.

Come Sunday is that joyous, special thing: a saga that captivates from the very first page, breaking our hearts while making our spirits soar.

Abbe Deighton is a woman who has lost her bearings. Once a child of the African plains, she is now settled in Hawaii, married to a minister, and waging her battles in a hallway of monotony. There is the leaky roof, the chafing expectations of her husband's congregation, and the constant demands of motherhood. But in an instant, beginning with the skid of tires, Abbe's battlefield is transformed when her three-year-old daughter is killed, triggering in Abbe a seismic grief that will cut a swath through the landscape of her life and her identity.

What an enthralling debut this is! What a storyteller we have here! As Isla Morley's novel sweeps from the hills of Honolulu to the veldt of South Africa, we catch a hint of the spirit of Barbara Kingsolver and the mesmerizing truth of Jodi Picoult. We are reminded of how it felt, a while ago, to dive into the drama of The Thorn Birds.

Come Sunday is a novel about searching for a true homeland, family bonds torn asunder, and the unearthing of decades-old secrets. It is a novel to celebrate, and Isla Morley is a writer to love.

About Isla Morley

ISLA MORLEY grew up in South Africa during apartheid. During the country’s State of Emergency, she graduated from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth with a degree in English literature. By 1994 she was one of the youngest magazine editors in South Africa, but she left career, country, and kin when she married an American and moved to the United States. For more than a decade she pursued a career in nonprofit work, focusing on the needs of women and children. Now in the Los Angeles area, she shares a home with her husband, their daughter, two cats, a dog, and a tortoise.

About Jennifer Wiltsie

Jennifer Wiltsie’s many audiobook credits include reading Emily Giffin's Something Blue, Isla Morley's Come Sunday, Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked, and Maeve Binchy's Quentins, which won an AudioFile earphones award. Wiltsie has appeared on the hit television show The Sopranos as well as in the films Wendigo, Wirey Spindell, Uninvited, and Minor Details.  On Broadway she has performed with Matthew Broderick in Night Must Fall, and her off-Broadway credits include Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. In London's West-End, she starred in Alan Ayckbourn's revival of Absurd Person Singular


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dale on November 21, 2016

The death of a child is a devastating event. The death of three year old Cleo in a freak accident only serves to widen the wedge between Abbe and her husband Greg, who pastors a church in Hawaii. This novel captures two people who have different ways of attempting to deal with their grief. I could f......more

Goodreads review by Irene on September 27, 2010

Come Sunday, Isla Morley’s doleful debut profoundly orchestrates the excruciatingly merciless emotion we call “grief.” When a tragic accident claims her precocious three-year-old daughter Cleo, we vicariously examine how a mother’s conventional daily life collapses instantaneously. Abbe Deighton and......more

Goodreads review by Susan on April 05, 2021

Heart-wrenching, beautifully written Come Sunday is a heart-wrenching, beautifully-written novel that delves deep into a mother’s grief. Abbe’s loss and pain are palpable, emotions felt deep in my gut. The story follows the liturgical calendar, from one Easter to the next, which is a unique and fitti......more

Goodreads review by Alice on April 28, 2009

I’ve finished reading the book by Isla Morley, Come Sunday. I found it to be very well written, but disturbing. The story starts with the tragic death of a 3 year old daughter on Good Friday. During the subsequent year the marriage of the husband (a minister) and his wife disintegrates. Flashbacks sh......more

Goodreads review by treehugger on December 13, 2009

Well, it's weird that this book doesn't fit into ANY of my shelves besides "read 2009"! I liked this book. Now, it wasn't an enjoyable read - let's just get that right out of the way. The subject matter, a mother's grief, is hard to bear, and the mother wallows for a LARGE part of the book. But it's......more


Quotes

“Jennifer Wiltsie's resourceful range and vocal skills bring this debut novel to life unforgettably...She perfectly renders the dissolution of their marriage and Abbe's return to South Africa, where she confronts painful memories and essential decisions. Wiltsie's fascinating portrayal delivers on every level.” —AudioFile

“Jennifer Wiltsie portrays the fury and raw pain of this potentially unlikeable character so that listeners sympathize. Wiltsie's mélange of accents, from South African to Hawaiian, add to the author's amazing imagery as does Wiltsie's spectacular range of expression as Abbe travels from suffering to redemption.” —The Chapel Hill Herald


Awards

  • Audie Award Finalist