An enthralling first novel about a teenage girl who finds refuge -- but perhaps not -- in an 1840s Shaker community. After 15-year-old Polly Kimball sets fire to the family farm, killing her abusive father, she and her young brother find shelter in a Massachusetts Shaker community called the City of Hope. It is the Era of Manifestations, when young girls in Shaker enclaves all across the Northeast are experiencing extraordinary mystical visions, earning them the honorific of "Visionist" and bringing renown to their settlements. The City of Hope has not yet been blessed with a Visionist, but that changes when Polly arrives and is unexpectedly exalted. As she struggles to keep her dark secrets concealed in the face of increasing scrutiny, Polly finds herself in a life-changing friendship with a young Shaker sister named Charity, a girl who will stake everything -- even her faith -- on Polly's honesty and purity. A Look Inside The Visionist A Shaker “Gift Drawing” Drawing of the Shaker Village at Enfield, CT Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA Spiral staircase, Trustees’ House, Pleasant Hill, Kentucky Shaker Settlement Inside of a Shaker Meeting House Urquhart constructs this debut novel around a seminal era in Shaker history. Set in New England in the mid-nineteenth century during the “Era of Manifestations,” this tale explores the often paradoxical nature of a zealously rigid and charismatic belief system. After setting fire to her family’s farmhouse while her abusive father sleeps, 15-year-old Polly Kimball escapes with her mother and young brother in tow. Seeking refuge as indentured orphans in a Shaker community, Polly is mistakenly hailed as a “visionist,” inflaming spiritual passions and arousing suspicions among various citizens of the City of Hope. As Polly attempts to guard her secret, a determined private investigator works behind the scenes to uncover the truth about the fire. Although the pacing is a bit plodding at times, the subject matter and the historical setting are compelling. --Margaret Flanagan PRAISE FOR THE VISIONIST : "Gripping, profound, and beautifully written, The Visionist takes us to a world where faith and fear exist simultaneously and safety has a price. A remarkable exploration of love in all its forms with complex characters who linger far beyond the final pages."― Brunonia Barry, author of The Lace Reader " The Visionist is both a haunting, beautifully imagined tale of lives devastated by cruelty and transformed by love, and a gorgeously evocative portrait of an 1840s Shaker settlement that is as startling as it is convincing."― Cathy Buchanan, author of The Painted Girls "Rachel Urquhart's transporting debut The Visionist lifts the veil on the intriguing, mystical past world of the Massachusetts Shakers. Equal parts exquisite historical coming-of-age story and harrowing crime procedural, The Visionist breathes life into desperate young orphan Polly Kimball, weaving a complex and compelling drama about one of American history's most elusive religious communities. Lovers of historical fiction and seekers after truth will devour The Visionist just like I did."― Katherine Howe, New York Times bestselling author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane "Rachel Urquhart paints a fascinating, complex portrait of Shaker culture in early America. An unexpected coming of age story, a suspenseful mystery. But what makes The Visionist particularly engaging is its thoughtful examination of the nature of good and evil, and our struggle to recognize it in ourselves and in others."― Eowyn Ivey, New York Times bestselling author of The Snow Child "Urquhart captures in exquisite detail the cruel demands of grueling poverty in 1840s New England, and, by contrast, the orderly Shaker community... She layers The Visionist with many startling moments, from the chorus of consoling angels that come to Polly when her father visits her bed at night, to the lengths to which ways her courageous mother goes to protect her...And in the course of her lyrically written tale, she offers a fresh view of this mysterious religious sect." -National Public Radio "Urquhart has created a world rich in details and vibrant in its historical dimensions...Urquhart captures how the Shakers live, dance, dine, garden, heal and worship, but she also has a genuine feel for her characters' longings and devotion...The true virtue of this story is the meditative consideration of the value of hardship and the transformative nature of ecstasy. Like Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and Edward P. Jones's The Known World , The Visionist aspires to illuminate our understanding of faith, resilience, shame and forgiveness." - Amber Dermont, New York Times " The Visionist reads in parts like a Victorian thriller...but [it] is more than a mystery. Ms. Urquhart also takes a close look at the notions of justice, faith and morality that prevailed at the time and the struggles of those