A tremendous novel - shrewd, compelling and full of insight - James Runcie elevates the genre to impressive new heights

William Boyd

Written with such tenderness, and very moving – I loved it

Elizabeth Buchan

Runcie has the gift of a born storyteller

Daily Mail

Unsparingly, generously truthful

Jim Crace

He is the simple chonicler of English post-ward life, using irony and understatement to lay bare the pathos of ordinary lives

Sunday Telegraph

The clerical milieu is well rendered as an affectionate eye is cast over post-war England – a perfect accompaniment to a sunny afternoon, a hammock and a glass of Pimm's

Guardian