Well developed, larger-than-life characters interacting in somewhat ludicrous situations. The style – many very short chapters – makes it a racing read.
Rather different from most of McCall Smith’s well-known books.
Before Hal joins the Cistercian Abbey in the heart of medieval Wales and adopts the new name of Hywel, his selfish lust has already done immeasurable harm to those closest to him. When a careless slip of the tongue deeply hurts his fellow novices, he expects to be banished. Much to his amazement, his mentor instead suggests he accompany a pilgrimage to the Holy Island of the Saints.
He soon discovers the other members of the group each have their own hangups and aspirations.
Continue reading “Wounds of the soul”
I have had the privilege of ‘meeting’ Natasha a couple of times on Zoom, hearing her read an extract from her WIP and even singing Abba’s and Awan’s songs that appear in this book. Her invitation to take part in a blog tour to promote the book launch on 6th August 2022 thrilled me. I read the ARC out aloud to my wife – we were both captivated by it – and these are my impressions.
As the cover image implies, this is a deeply moving book. It explores interactions within a single family attempting to survive in a bountiful but unfamiliar world.
Continue reading “Eye-opening, heart-rending”The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
The double bombshell of unjust eviction and a diagnosis of a terminal illness precipitates the devoted, ‘old’ couple of fifty years on a homeless hike with no future in sight. Backpacking, camping wild, surviving sometimes on little more than fruit gums and boiled limpets.
Continue reading “Hardiness and healing”
![The Road of Brightness by [Michael Mitton]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41hlli-KRrL.jpg)
No one is sure who first suggested undertaking a pilgrimage to Assisi. But a highly improbable group of friends and acquaintances from Dingle, Ireland, decide to do just that. And the new local priest, Father Kilbar, agrees to lead them, although he has never been there before.
Continue reading “Adventures in thin places”
This book follows the same pattern as the first in the series. Everyday life in a family of seven can be fun, even though it involves a constant struggle to make ends meet.
The devoted mother picks opportunities to entertain her starry-eyed, fifteen-year-old daughter with legends of their ancestor, Father Peregrine. Many centuries earlier, he was the rather bizarre abbot of a Yorkshire monastery. The bumbling antics of his protégés, together with musings on the nature and will of God, paint a vivid picture.
Continue reading “Further incidents from a 14th century monastery”The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock
![The Hawk and the Dove (The Hawk and the Dove Series Book 1) by [Penelope Wilcock]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZMBCSABWL.jpg)
If I say this book is about penitence, you wouldn’t read it. It gets worse: it’s about experiencing a brutal assault as a divine blessing.
In fact, it’s a delightful, heart-warming glimpse of 14th century monastic life. Over many generations, grandmothers have passed these anecdotes down to their granddaughters. They relate both humorous incidents and deep lessons of faith in a loving God.
Continue reading “Healing of the soul”
Further exciting tales of well-known New Testament characters and their fictitious offspring, as they travel the world, encouraging Christian believers and interacting with the powers-that-be.
Continue reading “Adventures of a growing Church”![The Complete Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Novels, Short Stories and Autobiographical Writings: The Entire Opus of the Great Russian Novelist, Journalist ... from Underground, The Brothers Karamazov… by [Fyodor Dostoyevsky]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41tumJedezS.jpg)
Struggling through this huge work is a great challenge; the style and tone are so unfamiliar.
Continue reading “Heart-searching and bloody hands”
Tony comes over as both entertaining and inspiring in this very personal book, in which he neither brags nor seeks to hide his failures. It reads more as an autobiography than – as the subtitle implies – a how-to-fail book about the challenges of book publishing.
Continue reading “A Christian ‘Who’s Who?’“