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'"It is strange and fascinating to me to think of people - Avila in particular - praying me into existence."
'Sydney Peony Kent is nineteen years old. She was a longed-for IVF baby, "product of an unknown egg and unknown sperm" implanted in her mother, Avila. Avila not only used the latest scientific techniques to conceive Sydney, but also prayed to the Bambinello, a small carved and jewelled statue of the infant Jesus housed in the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome and said to have miraculous properties.
'Avila's distant relative Father Roland Bruccoli was conceived in a more conventional manner, but his mother too prayed to the Bambinello before his birth - and that of his twin sister Eleena. It is when the adult Roland is visiting the church of Santa Maria one evening that the Bambinello is stolen. Roland hopes that Father Cosimo, an archivist, poet and riddler said to speak in the ancient green language of the troubadours, can assist in discovering what has happened to the Bambinello. But when matters of belief are involved, nothing is straightforward, as Sydney discovers herself when she too becomes caught up in tracing the Bambinello's fate.
'Deftly weaving together religion, science, pregnancies wanted and unwanted, love, loss and belief, Carmel Bird has created a luminous novel that both questions and celebrates the miraculous.' (From the publisher's website.)
Dedication: In memory of Matthew J. BruccoliPublication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Fiction Books
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 13 - 14 March 2010; (p. 22)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel -
Pagan Charm
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 319 2010; (p. 17)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel -
Books
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 27 February 2010; (p. 20)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel -
Woo the Muse : Now That's an Idea
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 20 February 2010; (p. 26) Jane Sullivan notes the ideas and people that inspire Carmel Bird, Alex Miller and Matthew Reilly. -
Eccentricity Rules as Fancy Flees
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13-14 February 2010; (p. 18-19)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel
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Untitled
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , Summer 2009-2010 vol. 89 no. 5 2009; (p. 35)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel -
Kaleidoscope of Faith and Miracles
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 30 January 2010; (p. 12)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel -
Twilight World of Missing Children
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 6 February 2010; (p. 21) The Sydney Morning Herald , 6-7 February 2010; (p. 26-27)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel -
Well Read
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 6 February 2010; (p. 25)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel ; The Legacy 2010 single work novel -
Eccentricity Rules as Fancy Flees
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13-14 February 2010; (p. 18-19)
— Review of Child of the Twilight 2010 single work novel -
Faith in the Child
Candice Cappe
(interviewer),
2009
single work
interview
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , Summer 2009-2010 vol. 89 no. 5 2009; (p. 45) -
Woo the Muse : Now That's an Idea
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 20 February 2010; (p. 26) Jane Sullivan notes the ideas and people that inspire Carmel Bird, Alex Miller and Matthew Reilly.
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Rome,
cItaly,cWestern Europe, Europe,