Private Man

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20th century
A01=Stephanie Sy-Quia
Author_Stephanie Sy-Quia
Category=FB
Category=FBA
Category=FRD
Category=FXD
Category=QRMB1
Catholic
England
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_modern-contemporary
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_romance
family
first love
Forbidden love
historical fiction
literary
mother's day
multi-generational
passion
priest
relationships
romance
Rome

Product details

  • ISBN 9781035052615
  • Weight: 396g
  • Dimensions: 145 x 226mm
  • Publication Date: 19 Feb 2026
  • Publisher: Pan Macmillan
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Hardback
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Set in mid-century Rome and England, this forbidden slow-burn love story will take your breath away

Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Fiction

'A truly impressive debut novel, one I could see appearing on the Booker longlist' – The Sunday Times
'It’s a rare pleasure to read this novel' - Sarah Moss

Rome, 1953. David is young, handsome, charismatic and sworn to celibacy. He is freshly ordained, and about to return to England to begin life as a priest. Devotion to God is all he’s ever known.

In London, Margaret is entangled in an impossible love affair. Committed to living on her own terms without sacrificing her faith, she becomes drawn to a women’s movement challenging the archaic rules of the Church.

When their lives are thrown together at a Catholic college in a quiet village, an undeniable connection forms between them.

Stephanie Sy-Quia’s A Private Man is a stunning story of devotion and sacrifice, and of the consequences of our actions that ripple throughout generations.

READERS LOVE A PRIVATE MAN
‘Lives and breathes along with you as you read’
‘Radiating warmth, tinged by inevitable sadness. I loved it’
‘Beautifully written and deeply moving’
‘A work of quiet power that leaves you bereft at its end’
‘I just love everything about this book’

Stephanie Sy-Quia’s first book of poetry, Amnion, won the 2021 Forward Prize for Best First Collection, an Eric Gregory Award, and a Somerset Maugham Award. It was longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Laurel Prize, and the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize. Her writing has appeared in the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Boston Review, The White Review, Five Dials and Granta, among others. She lives in London.

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