Bookseller Reviews
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"Distance can be a most forgiving medium"
Poet Stephanie Sy-Quia’s prose debut is a dual-timeline novel that follows David and Margaret, who are brought together by their time spent working at a Ca... READ MORE
Breath taking!
I got the proof for this a few months ago and have only just got around to picking it up and when I did, I absolutely devoured it. There are moments of abs... READ MORE
An instant favourite for 2026
Reading Stephanie Sy-Quia's outstanding debut feels like being let in on a secret that you are desperate to share with everyone that will listen. I know th... READ MORE
Tender and moving
An accomplished and quietly moving story about a Catholic priest who finds himself drawn to a teacher at a Catholic college.The story unfolds in flashback ... READ MORE
Subtly Beautiful Examination of the Complexities of Love and Faith
Stephanie Sy-Quia's A Private Man is inspired by the story of her grandparents. It is a brave novel about love and faith which does not shy away from uncov... READ MORE
Hot priest meets bluestocking
Such a beautiful debut from Stephanie Sy-Quia! Written with sensuality and lyricism, it explores the relationship between David and Margaret, a Catholic pr... READ MORE
Quietly powerful and deeply moving
This book was without a doubt, incredible. Initially I was cautious because it's a love story between a young priest and a woman which could lead into slig... READ MORE
A Private Man
Poetically written, charged with emotion and completely transporting. A very raw story of forbidden love in the Catholic Church, told often through the fem... READ MORE
Forbidden love and the unravelling of faith captured with beauty and precision that will leave you luxuriating in the prose
Set against the backdrop of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, A Private Man follows Catholic priest David and laywoman Margaret as they meet when te... READ MORE
Publisher information
- Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
- ISBN: 9780802166906
- Number of pages: 288
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allForbidden love in an age of change..
This is a novel about a tortured love which plays out between two people thorn between religious faith and forbidden love. David, is the recently ordained ... READ MORE
A beautiful and emotional masterpiece
David and Margaret are joined by their duty to the Catholic Church. Both studying in Rome when young, they meet back in England as priest and laywoman for ... READ MORE
Thoughtful exploration of devotion, desire, and moral conflict
A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia is a quiet, beautifully controlled literary novel about faith, forbidden love, and the long shadow of personal choices. ... READ MORE
A beautiful story
This is such a beautifully written love story not just about love between two people but also love of a religion and also the love within families and frie... READ MORE
Highly recommended.
I was brought Catholic and remember how the priest was a sort of forbidden object of desire unless you fell in love. The fight for allowing Catholic priest... READ MORE
A well written slow burn love story.
I found this book hard to get into and I felt quite lost at times. It picked up around a third of the way in and I started to settle into the story and the... READ MORE
A tender story
‘A Private Man’ tells the story of a young newly ordained priest Richard in Rome in 1953 and Maragret, a fiercely independent Catholic woman. Their paths c... READ MORE
Profound and beautiful
A Private Man is a delightful book, moving across generations at first but then settling into the telling of Margaret and David's relationship. It is told ... READ MORE
Extremely good
This is an evocative, and longing story about a laywoman and a Catholic priest that is based on the author's grandparents' actual experiences. Because of D... READ MORE
A beautiful read
A slow, lyrical narrative which is based on the author's own family. As a Catholic myself I found a certain familiarity in the rites and dogmas which form... READ MORE
A truly beautiful book
This is quite an astonishing book. It unfolds through the generations, and involves hidden stories which necessarily emerge at a point in life where the yo... READ MORE
Well written
A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia was a really enjoyable read. Although I’m not religious, I was intrigued by the premise and found the book both thoughtf... READ MORE
Private
This is such a great read, unbelievable rate of page turning. I loved its poetry, story, characters and settings. This lives and breathes along with you as... READ MORE
Beautifully Written Book
This is a beautifully written, quiet book about faith and forbidden love. It follows the relationship between Margaret, a theology teacher, and David, a Ca... READ MORE
A stunning debut novel
In 2018 Adrian attends his great uncle Ralph’s funeral where he receives a shocking revelation which his mother confirms as true. However, the story starts... READ MORE
A powerful, thought-provoking novel which incites the reader to think about the place of religion in a secular world.
It’s difficult to believe that ‘A Private Man’ is Stephanie Sy-Quia’s debut novel, so assuredly does she craft the love story of Catholic priest, David, an... READ MORE
Stunning
A funeral, a crucifix and a young man are Sy-Quia's gateway to a love story, a love story between a man and a woman and the one some of us may find in our ... READ MORE
A gorgeous moving book about the sacrifices one young couple makes for love.
A gorgeous moving book about the sacrifices one young couple makes for love.
I knew very little about the process of becoming a priest - Sy-Quia has ope... READ MORE
Overwritten in part
This is a complex tale which is in essence the story of two disparate souls who fall in love. I’m a little on the fence overall. In many ways it’s outsta... READ MORE
Fabulous debut
Thank you to the publishers for this review copy, it is fair to say that this book will stay in my head for some time to come.
Two brilliant main characte... READ MORE
An engrossing historical tale
This book – written by a Forward Prize winning poet - featured in the 2026 version of the influential and frequently literary-prize-prescient annual Observ... READ MORE
Beautiful writing
It took me a while to get into this but it's worth persevering. It's the story of a forbidden love between a priest, David, and Margaret, a woman committed... READ MORE
Forbidden Love
I had never heard of this author before being given the opportunity to read 'A Private Man'. In the authors notes to the novel she explains that her inspir... READ MORE
Well written and beautifully paced
I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Private Man. It is well written and beautifully paced It is certainly insightful with regards to the ethos of the Catholic C... READ MORE
Quietly Lyrical and Reflective
This is a quiet, thoughtful novel. The plot is explained in the blurb, so the book is more about exploring how the characters get to that point. A "where e... READ MORE
A powerful, thought-provoking novel which incites the reader to think about the place of religion in a secular world.
It’s difficult to believe that ‘A Private Man’ is Stephanie Sy-Quia’s debut novel, so assuredly does she craft the love story of Catholic priest, David, an... READ MORE
thoughtful and sympathetic read
This is a slow burn steady treatment of some exceptional issues and personal challenges, told in a low-key and mesmerising way as David, pride of his mothe... READ MORE
The type of book that should be savoured
"I want to talk to you. For the rest of my days".
This was such an addictive slow burn romance, the more I read the more I loved it.
The writing kept me ... READ MORE
A quiet story of love
A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If, like me, s2 of Fleabag was right up your street (IYKYK) or if you've ever bought the infamous 'Hot Pr... READ MORE
Insightful yet gripping
I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Private Man. It is well written and beautifully paced It is certainly insightful with regards to the ethos of the Catholic C... READ MORE
a remarkable story based on real life
At his great-uncle's funeral, Adrian learns from a relative that his long-deceased grandfather was a Catholic priest who left the priesthood in the 1960s a... READ MORE
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