About Blair Hurley

Blair is the author of THE DEVOTED, published by W.W. Norton and Penguin Random House Canada, which was longlisted for The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Her work is published or forthcoming in Electric Literature, The Georgia Review, Ninth Letter, Guernica, Paris Review Daily, West Branch, and elsewhere. She received a 2018 Pushcart Prize and scholarships from Bread Loaf, Hawthornden Castle, and the Ontario Arts Council. She also hosts the writerlybites podcast.

Her next novel, Minor Prophets, will be published by Ig Publishing in April 2023.

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From the publisher:

Nicole Hennessy’s world revolves around her Boston Zendo, to the chagrin of her Irish Catholic family. As she struggles to break free from a psychological and sexual entanglement with her mentor, her past finally catches up with her. A spellbinding confession of what it means to abandon one life for another, The Devoted asks what it takes, and what you’ll sacrifice, to find enlightenment.

Praise

“[An] intimate, fluid debut…The beauty of The Devoted lies in its intricate descriptions of religion’s hush and ritual… [A] novel as tender and fervent as a prayer.”

New York Times Book Review


“A belated coming-of-age novel with a quest at its core, The Devoted is an assured and promising debut.”

Vogue

“Provocative… [A] terrifying but insightful warning not to look for easy answers offered by false prophets.”

Time