Sins & Sanctity

Do you pray because you believe that God exists?

Or do you pray because you’re scared he does?

†

England, 1958: Niall Horan, eighteen year old, humble offspring of a poor Irish family, starts his last year at Saint Nathaniel’s, the county’s most highly esteemed catholic boarding school for boys. Growing up used to the institution’s strict rules, always careful not to stray from the path of a good christian and trying to be a son to be proud of, Niall never questioned the beliefs that were forced on him ever since; no matter the sudden confusion and doubts that start to arise in his mind after an ominous night out. But as he returns to school, he soon notices that things are really changing: Not only the strange behaviour of his best friend Harry, who seems to hide something from him worries Niall. His roommate Liam as well, who was always of the peaceful kind, suddenly gets into trouble for a bloody fight with the new kitchen boy Zayn. Yet, they don’t seem much like enemies when no one else is around. Only Louis, head boy and son of the school’s benefactor, remains reliable to Niall. At least until a secret that could ruin Saint Nathaniel’s reputation for all times surfaces. And then, as if things couldn’t get worse, Niall meets Goldie, the girl with the big brown eyes, pink lips and skin so soft he feels it against his in his dreams. Trying to resist his fleshly desires and his greedy human nature, his lust and confusion push Niall to the edge of his own sanity: And no prayer and no punishment, no whiplash or any other kind of self-flaggellation can exorcise the demons that slowly take over his unholy, wicked soul.