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An Act of Worship

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Sarah is taking a break from her eco-warrior activities, looking after her sister's wholefood shop in a small west of Ireland town. When a dying calf is found on the local dump, she begins to make some enquiries. Before long, the dark shadow cast by modern beef production begins to emerge in another, more sinister form, and Sarah finds that her path keeps crossing that of the town butcher, Malachy Glynn.

Their outlooks on life are clearly polarised, yet they find themselves uneasy allies. Because something even more compelling than the grisly events of the parish is drawing them together. Sarah and Malachy have a lot more in common than they know.

An Act of Worship is an exploration of the treatment of cattle in Ireland and the ethics surrounding their slaughter. At a time of increasing concern about animal rights and the discussion about diet on an overheating planet, An Act of Worship is more relevant now than ever.

274 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

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About the author

Kate Thompson

61 books150 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Kate Thompson is an award-winning writer for children and adults.She has lived in Ireland, where many of her books are set, since 1981. She is the youngest child of the social historians and peace activists E. P. Thompson and Dorothy Towers. She worked with horses and travelled in India before settling in the west of Ireland with her partner Conor. They have two daughters, Cliodhna and Dearbhla. She is an accomplished fiddler with an interest in Irish traditional music, reflected in The New Policeman.

While Kate Thompson's children's fiction is primarily fantasy, several of her books also deal with the consequences of genetic engineering.

She has won the Bisto Children's Book of the Year Award four times, for The Beguilers, The Alchemist's Apprentice, Annan Water and The New Policeman. The New Policeman was also awarded the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Dublin Airport Authority Children's Book of the Year Award for 2005.

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28 reviews
September 29, 2018
Really disliked this book. Not at all what I expected based on the title. Chose not to finish it.
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