Thom Satterlee

The year is 1665. England is in the midst of the Restoration, and John Milton, a blind, politically and religiously marginalized writer associated with Oliver Cromwell's failed attempt to form a republic, has not yet published Paradise Lost. When one of the worst plagues in history descends upon London, he and his much younger wife are forced to flee to the countryside. There Milton is befriended by the local curate, Rev. Theodore Wesson, who knows nothing about Milton's controversial past or the dangers of associating with him. Soon their fates become intertwined when the curate's hopes for advancement are threatened by his relationship to the notorious traitor and "king-killer," John Milton. The situation tests Wesson's loyalty--to the monarchy, to friendship, to a church career--while complicating his already blurry sense of God's involvement in human affairs. For Milton, the cost is potentially even greater: the target of assassination attempts since the restoration of the monarchy five years earlier, he has real reason to fear for his life. A riveting and briskly paced novel that transports the reader to a very particular place and time even as its themes resonate with our own time, Thom Satterlee's God's Liar will take its place next to works as varied as Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Colm Toibin's The Master.

The year is 1665. England is in the midst of the Restoration, and John Milton, a blind, politically and religiously marginalized writer associated with Oliver Cromwell's failed attempt to form a republic, has not yet published Paradise Lost. When one of the worst plagues in history descends upon London, he and his much younger wife are forced to flee to the countryside. There Milton is befriended by the local curate, Rev. Theodore Wesson, who knows nothing about Milton's controversial past or the dangers of associating with him. Soon their fates become intertwined when the curate's hopes for advancement are threatened by his relationship to the notorious traitor and "king-killer," John Milton. The situation tests Wesson's loyalty--to the monarchy, to friendship, to a church career--while complicating his already blurry sense of God's involvement in human affairs. For Milton, the cost is potentially even greater: the target of assassination attempts since the restoration of the monarchy five years earlier, he has real reason to fear for his life. A riveting and briskly paced novel that transports the reader to a very particular place and time even as its themes resonate with our own time, Thom Satterlee's God's Liar will take its place next to works as varied as Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Colm Toibin's The Master.

He trusts everyone, when he shouldn't trust anyone. How does a man with Asperger's Syndrome step out of his office, leave behind the safety of his desk and books, and embrace the world he's always kept at arm's length? All his life, Daniel Peters has hidden behind his reputation as one of the world's best translators of the iconic philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. When his beloved ex-girlfriend and mentor dies under odd circumstances and a priceless Kierkegaard manuscript goes missing, Daniel turns out to be the last person to have seen her alive. To clear his name, he must leave the safety of his books and venture out into the streets of Copenhagen. Reminiscent of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime, this mystery will keep readers guessing until the final page.

'This is probably the best book to come out this year. Not only is this the most beautifully bound book of poetry I think I've ever seen, but Thom Satterlee is obviously a master at his craft' - Suite101.com. 'Thom Satterlee has fashioned a new genre, a contemporary hagiography in verse, primarily narrative but seasoned with lyric occasion. ""Burning Wyclif"" offers a deeply personal, word-savoring vision of a word-afflicted man, with the paradox and mystery one would expect of the life of a heretic and saint' - Scott Cairns, author of ""Compass of Affection: New & Selected Poems"". 'For its lyrical but authoritative evocations of a passionate scholars works and days, and for its formful penetrations into the Word itself the sound and sense/we made in that language/before languages. Thom Satterlees ""Burning Wyclif"" is a remarkable book, first or otherwise, inspired and earned' - William Heyen. 'These poems shine with the desire of a medieval priest. How strange. Yet the book illuminates his conundrums so fiercely that they become ours. Thom Satterlee speaks through the character of Wyclif with such concentrated intelligence, passion, and humor that while I was reading, the historical man seemed to be standing in the room beside me' - Jeanne Murray Walker. 'Most of us recognize the name John Wyclif and associate it with the translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible into English. Admirers will add that Wyclif was one of the most prominent philosophers and theologians of the second half of the fourteenth century. Others will call him heretic for his condemnation of what he saw as corruption in the Catholic Church and especially for his attack on the Churchs doctrine of transubstantiation. If we want to know the facts of Wyclifs life, we can consult an encyclopedia or biography. If we want to know John Wyclif, and maybe ourselves, we should read Thom Satterlees poetry collection ""Burning Wyclif""' - Robert A. Fink, from the Introduction ""Burning Wyclif"". Sometimes you have to raise the body up to burn it down. So it was with Wyclif, who rested forty-two years under chancel stone condemned by the Papacy, protected by the Crown. Finally, a bishop came with a few men, spades, shovels, a horse and cart. By then, not much was left of Wyclifhair and skin gone, his bones slipped out of place inside the simple alb they'd buried him in. The bishop gathered what he could. Beside the River Swift, he lit a pile of wood and tossed the bones on one at a time, cursing the heretic from limb to limb. Afterwards, they shoveled ash into the water and no one even thought the word martyr. Thom Satterlee is assistant professor of English at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, and advisor for the universitys student literary magazine, Parnassus. His poetry has appeared in ""Alaska Quarterly Review"", ""Image"", ""Southwest Review"", and ""The Southern Review"" and has been selected for ""Poetry Daily"".