The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation

“The Devil and Miss Prym is a simple tale, with the meaning of life and spiritual guidance at its core.”

-- The Guardian

A community divided by greed, cowardice, and fear. A man haunted by the ghost of a painful past. A young woman in search of happiness. Seven days, a short period during which good and evil will wage a decisive battle, and each character will decide on which of the two sides they belong. The small village of Viscos is the setting for this disturbing fight. With the arrival of a foreigner, the entire town becomes an accomplice in a perverse plot that will forever mark the history of its inhabitants.

The foreigner has traveled from far away and needs to find the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? At once an evocative novel and a suspenseful page-turner, The Devil and Miss Prym captures one moment in our eternal struggle for self-knowledge, asking a question that all of us have stopped to reflect on at some point: What is the essence of the human being? 

A community devoured by greed, cowardice, and fear. A man persecuted by the ghosts of his painful past. A young woman searching for happiness. In one eventful week, each will face questions of life, death, and power, and each will choose a path. Will they choose good or evil?

In the remote village of Viscos -- a village too small to be on any map, a place where time seems to stand still -- a stranger arrives, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their lives.

Paulo Coelho's stunning novel explores the timeless struggle between good and evil, and brings to our everyday dilemmas fresh perspective: incentive to master the fear that prevents us from following our dreams, from being different, from truly living.

The Devil and Miss Prym is a story charged with emotion, in which the integrity of being human meets a terrifying test.

“Like The Alchemist, The Devil and Miss Prym is a simple tale, with the meaning of life and spiritual guidance at its core.” - The Guardian (UK)

“A fascinating meditation on the human soul, The Devil and Miss Prym illuminates the reality of good and evil within, and the difficulties of choosing between them.” - Dublin Magazine

“It’s time for American readers to set out on a journey of discovery that will lead them to the works of this exceptional writer.” - USA Today

“Only someone Jesuit-trained could bring to Scripture the kind of coolly passionate imagination on display in Coelho’s latest novel.” - Philadelphia Inquirer

“A suspenseful fable...satisfying.” - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel