Featured on WCBB-TV Boston's news magazine Chronicle * A Book Sense Pick

Angel and Apostle reading group guide

★ "In language nearly as beautiful and powerful as Hawthorne's, Noyes tackles passion and Puritanism in a riveting historical tale with timeless overtones. Strongly recommended."—Library Journal (starred review)

"A is for ardent, avid, adoring—and such is Pearl, whose coming-of-age as Hester Prynne's bastard child is the subject of [this] debut.... Noyes engages with atmospheric charms of time and place... and... delivers an ending revelation that would surprise Hawthorne himself."—Publishers Weekly

 "An accomplished novel, stylistically sharp and metaphorically keen. [Noyes'] deft telling provides a thoroughly engaging story with an utterly stunning ending."—The Chicago Tribune

"A lyrical debut.... Noyes does a remarkable job of capturing Puritan New England and the spirit and willfulness of Pearl, who is a compelling, sympathetic character in her own right."—Booklist

"The character and plot development are first rate as Noyes captures the true essence of Pearl's personality, life, and times. With quietly savage prose, Deborah Noyes takes Pearl to adulthood, marriage, motherhood. We experience her life in America and England, the blossoming of love, and the heartbreak borne of passion and loss. Readers smell the sea, the bite of chill air, and live the very heartbeats of each character. This book is a literary classic and highly recommended."—Midwest Book Review

"A worthy successor to Hawthorne's classic, breathing life and sympathy into an enigmatic child."—Luan Gaines, curledupwithagoodbook.com

"This small saga reads larger than its 304 pages. While a dark tale, sad and poignant, it is a tale of ultimate enlightenment."—Kate Ayers, bookreporter.com

"I enjoyed every page of this debut novel.... Ms. Noyes captures the heart of the time period, and I think Mr. Hawthorne would have liked this story, too."—Historical Novels Review

"Noyes imbues her debut novel with energy and literary weight, continuing Pearl's story while remaining faithful to the original which inspired it.... Noyes does more than simply update the Hawthorne story, however.... Investigating what constitutes a good life and dealing with the subjects of life and death, and salvation and sin, the novel explores universal themes within the colonial settings, but its focus on the passion of love and its aftermath gives it a modern context, one to which a modern reader will respond."—Mary Whipple, mostlyfiction.com

"Beautifully expressive and lyrical in language and style that parallels the Hawthorne tenor and sensibility . . . . the age-old character-based theme of love and its aftermath, no matter how ancient, gives the story an overriding personal and current perspective."—Gordon Hauptfleisch, blogcritics.org

"As rich as the characters, the setting, and the drama of Noyes's novel are, it is not a volume that exists solely to tell a story. Noyes makes a commentary on fiction, on what is the truth, and whether it resides in the events that happened, the memories that hold them, or the emotions that resonate for years….In taking on a classic work of fiction, she is challenging what it means for a story to be true, to have a life of its own. And though I wonder whether Hawthorne would appreciate this fate for his 'wild child' Pearl, modern readers would do well to pick up this volume and enjoy the rich world Noyes creates."—Alex Myers, newpages.com