In the Days of Rain

Rebecca Stott is a novelist and historian. She is Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at UEA. She lives in Norwich.

'Beautiful, dizzying, terrifying, Stott's memoir maps the unnerving hinterland where faith becomes cruelty and devotion turns into disaster. A brave, frightening and strangely hopeful book' Olivia Laing, author of The Lonely City‘A marvellous, strange, terrifying book’ Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill‘Truly magnificent: a big, beautiful, brutal, and tender masterpiece. A deeply affecting human story that also goes to the dark heart of who we are and how the world works’ Mark Mills, author of The Savage Garden‘Stott is masterly as both a storyteller and a historian’ TLS‘By rights Rebecca Stott's memoir ought to be a horror story. But while the historian in her is merciless in exposing cruelties and corruption, Rebecca the child also lights up the book, so passionate and imaginative that it helps explain how she survived, and – even more miraculous – found the compassion and understanding to do justice to the story of her father and the painful family life he created’ Sarah Dunant, author of The Birth of Venus‘She’s a beautiful writer and there is a powerful almost luminous quality to the book’ Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love‘This book is important; … there isn’t an uninteresting paragraph in this furious and compassionate book’ The Times‘An intense accomplishment’ Sunday Times‘In the Days of Rain is a double memoir: it describes both Rebecca’s own childhood and her father Roger’s life. It is not, though, in any way a misery memoir and that’s what makes it such an attractive and interesting book’ Spectator‘Stott deploys her multiplicity of skills to good effect: as a historian, she delves into newspaper clippings, tape recordings, archive materials, a host of memoirs and books on doctrine, theology and the Exclusive Brethren. As a novelist, she makes the tale dramatic … As an essayist, Stott weaves ideas together with ease and economy’ Guardian