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Ordinary Time
'There are already three of us in this marriage. I'm not sure there is room for a fourth . . .'
Ann is a reluctant Vicar's wife. She tries her best but her husband only has eyes for God, her son is asking questions she struggles to answer, and it is all too easy to displease the congregation. It may only be a matter of time before she makes the headlines of the local Vicar's wife gets giggles in church. Vicar's wife refuses to bake scones. Vicar's wife does not care about other people.
When her brother needs her help, Ann travels from Cornwall up to London. There she meets Jamie, and a new world unexpectedly opens up. Ann knows what the older women of the parish would say - she's made her bed and now she has to lie in it. But once she has been led into temptation, it may prove impossible to resist . . .
The funny and heartbreaking new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink, Ordinary Time is an unforgettable story of the joys and sorrows of everyday life; one that asks big questions about friendship and marriage, forgiveness and redemption, and the real meaning of love.
Ann is a reluctant Vicar's wife. She tries her best but her husband only has eyes for God, her son is asking questions she struggles to answer, and it is all too easy to displease the congregation. It may only be a matter of time before she makes the headlines of the local Vicar's wife gets giggles in church. Vicar's wife refuses to bake scones. Vicar's wife does not care about other people.
When her brother needs her help, Ann travels from Cornwall up to London. There she meets Jamie, and a new world unexpectedly opens up. Ann knows what the older women of the parish would say - she's made her bed and now she has to lie in it. But once she has been led into temptation, it may prove impossible to resist . . .
The funny and heartbreaking new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink, Ordinary Time is an unforgettable story of the joys and sorrows of everyday life; one that asks big questions about friendship and marriage, forgiveness and redemption, and the real meaning of love.
362 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 11, 2024
58 people are currently reading
1774 people want to read
About the author
Cathy Rentzenbrink
14 books324 followersCathy Rentzenbrink grew up in Yorkshire and now lives in London. A former Waterstones bookseller, she is now Project Director of the charity Quick Reads and Associate Editor of The Bookseller magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
September 11, 2024
I really enjoyed the unpretentious writing style, gentle but honest humour, flawed but sympathetic characters and the thoughtful plot of this novel about different kinds of love, loss, the enduring scars of childhood and the choices we make. The title reflects the liturgical name of the period between two great Christian festivals - Christmas and Easter; a fitting description for a period of moral and spiritual struggle for Ann, a reluctant, non-believing spouse to Tim, a vicar who takes God and the service of his people more seriously than paying attention to Ann and their son, Sam. To add to her problems, Ann's much loved younger brother is struggling with anxiety and a fixation of imminent death (I was drawn into a false sense of doom by the section dates which place this novel in 2019, just before the beginning of the Pandemic!) and we learn of the siblings difficult childhood marred by their father's early suicide. On her way to support brother Stephen from her Cornish vicarage, she meets Jamie, a gloriously handsome and empathetic hero-man, and falls in love. All the main characters, and even the minor, annoying parish pariahs, are drawn with endearing qualities and, although there is grief and mundane tragedy, there is also gentle and healing humour. Names are important and Ann's is no accident. Throughout the novel there is reference to Anna Karenina, but will Ann's fate be different from the great tragic heroine of literature?
October 24, 2024
The title is ordinary but the book is not. I loved it. It will be one of my favourites for the year. I’ve put off reviewing it, because I get tongue tied when it’s a book I really love. I’d like to just push it into your hands and beseech you to read it.
It’s a contemporary novel but it has a vaguely mid century feel to it - which I love. It feels like Cathy Rentzenbrink is Barbara Pym’s granddaughter (she isn’t). I probably think that because the novel is centered on a vicarage and the somewhat eccentric congregation, but it also has all the heart and humour and pathos that Pym’s books have.
It’s about a woman called Ann, married to a vicar called Tim and living in Cornwall. Ann is not happy – although she adores her son. Her husband is devoted to his job but is an absent husband. Their house is horrible. She doesn’t know many people in Cornwall and she’s lonely. She thinks about whether she wants to turn her life upside down. I adored her and I felt for her.
Look, it’s not perfect. I never really bought why Ann married Tim in the first place. Another reviewer here called it dreary and I guess that because it’s a quiet book without a hugely dramatic arc. But there’s so much that is wonderful. You care about the characters. The humour is quiet, but it makes you smile. It’s about love and connections and evaluating your life and seeing the beauty in the everyday. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy: please, read it.
It’s a contemporary novel but it has a vaguely mid century feel to it - which I love. It feels like Cathy Rentzenbrink is Barbara Pym’s granddaughter (she isn’t). I probably think that because the novel is centered on a vicarage and the somewhat eccentric congregation, but it also has all the heart and humour and pathos that Pym’s books have.
It’s about a woman called Ann, married to a vicar called Tim and living in Cornwall. Ann is not happy – although she adores her son. Her husband is devoted to his job but is an absent husband. Their house is horrible. She doesn’t know many people in Cornwall and she’s lonely. She thinks about whether she wants to turn her life upside down. I adored her and I felt for her.
Look, it’s not perfect. I never really bought why Ann married Tim in the first place. Another reviewer here called it dreary and I guess that because it’s a quiet book without a hugely dramatic arc. But there’s so much that is wonderful. You care about the characters. The humour is quiet, but it makes you smile. It’s about love and connections and evaluating your life and seeing the beauty in the everyday. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy: please, read it.
January 19, 2025
Beautiful. I really enjoyed this
August 7, 2025
A lovely, lovely, lovely book!!! So gentle in its approach and writing, Cathy Rentzenbrink you have a new fan!
September 28, 2025
Enjoyable, witty and a quick read. Talked a lot about grief, suicide and mental health which I worried would trigger me but found it moving instead. Didn’t really buy the Jamie and main character love story and actually found him quite annoying but liked the point around how the perception of an ‘ordinary’ and simple life can so often hide the darker secrets many people have. Many of the characters were flawed but I liked the (more subtle for some) growth elements of them especially the vicar
September 6, 2024
I really loved this.
I thought it was going to be a gentle parochial tale but it is thoughtful and heartfelt and lovely and sad and hopeful.
All the feelings.
Recommended.
I thought it was going to be a gentle parochial tale but it is thoughtful and heartfelt and lovely and sad and hopeful.
All the feelings.
Recommended.
June 30, 2025
I really enjoyed the first 70% of this book but it just fell a bit flat and like it was finished in a bit of a twee, predicable way. Disappointed because I loved the first part
February 5, 2025
I think this book may be a hard one to sell to others in that it’s quite hard to describe and explain but I simply loved it. Couldn’t get enough.
January 6, 2025
Ordinary Time by Cathy Rentzenbrink is the book that saw me from 2024 into 2025 and it made a good end to one reading year and start to another. The title comes from the Christian liturgical calendar and refers to the time outside the main seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter.
Our main character, Ann, has a rather ordinary life and a stale marriage. She is a vicar’s wife but doesn’t really have much belief. Her husband Tim has plenty of time for God and his parishioners but very little time for Ann and their son. He really seems so self-centred and oblivious to those he should love, putting duty before his family.
I found Ann to be a likable character although I feel in her position I would have been rather tempted to leave my husband if I was treated in such an offhand manner. However, as the book progresses we find out why providing a stable family life for her son is so important to her. The author wrote very insightfully about Ann’s feelings towards her husband, her son and her brother, and created an understanding of what her life is like. When temptation comes her way in the form of Jamie, it is completely understandable that she considers what a different life might be like and whether it would be possible.
I found the whole depiction of parish life in a small community to be very convincing and often provided some entertaining moments. I felt for poor Ann moving from one parish to another at her husband’s whim and ending up in a damp vicarage, with a dining room full of jumble, where parishioners were used to just popping in anytime. Ann was always concerned she would do something to earn the disapproval of not only her husband but the ladies of the parish. However, some of them proved to be very supportive at times.
The author’s writing put me in mind of Anne Tyler. Both authors show great skill in writing about ordinary things of everyday life and making them fascinating. A quietly compelling book, Ordinary Time is an insightful portrait of a marriage and of lives which have been impacted by childhood events.
Our main character, Ann, has a rather ordinary life and a stale marriage. She is a vicar’s wife but doesn’t really have much belief. Her husband Tim has plenty of time for God and his parishioners but very little time for Ann and their son. He really seems so self-centred and oblivious to those he should love, putting duty before his family.
I found Ann to be a likable character although I feel in her position I would have been rather tempted to leave my husband if I was treated in such an offhand manner. However, as the book progresses we find out why providing a stable family life for her son is so important to her. The author wrote very insightfully about Ann’s feelings towards her husband, her son and her brother, and created an understanding of what her life is like. When temptation comes her way in the form of Jamie, it is completely understandable that she considers what a different life might be like and whether it would be possible.
I found the whole depiction of parish life in a small community to be very convincing and often provided some entertaining moments. I felt for poor Ann moving from one parish to another at her husband’s whim and ending up in a damp vicarage, with a dining room full of jumble, where parishioners were used to just popping in anytime. Ann was always concerned she would do something to earn the disapproval of not only her husband but the ladies of the parish. However, some of them proved to be very supportive at times.
The author’s writing put me in mind of Anne Tyler. Both authors show great skill in writing about ordinary things of everyday life and making them fascinating. A quietly compelling book, Ordinary Time is an insightful portrait of a marriage and of lives which have been impacted by childhood events.
July 22, 2024
Ordinary Time is the story of Ann, vicar's wife, mother, sister - this is how she is defined but it's stifling her. Her husband, Tim, thinks more of God than of his own son, let alone his wife, pushing both aside for often trivial pastoral matters. The family have newly arrived in Cornwall for Tim to take up residence as the vicar - another move, another new school, same old stale marriage.
Cathy Rentzenbrink portrays small parish life perfectly, one in which the vicar and his family are almost public property. Barbara and Doreen think nothing of simply popping their head around the back door, and the dining room of the vicarage is full of jumble that Tim doesn't even notice, let alone think is a problem.
This is an intensely character driven novel, with human nature and all its foibles observed to great effect. Rentzenbrink writes with dry humour but it's also a moving tale of childhoods marred by great tragedy and how the trauma of dealing with it can trickle down through the rest of your life.
When Ann meets Jamie, a man who she feels not only attraction for, but a kinship with, it drives her to reflect on what's important to her. I thought this thread was beautifully written with both yearning and possibility (and impossibility too).
Ordinary Time is a story of a marriage, a family, a loss and a love. It's a quiet novel but one which delves deep into feelings and emotions. I particularly appreciated the honesty in Ann's narrative and how she let rip internally all that she didn't feel able to say aloud. It's a fabulous novel. I enjoy this author's perceptive and funny writing so much.
Cathy Rentzenbrink portrays small parish life perfectly, one in which the vicar and his family are almost public property. Barbara and Doreen think nothing of simply popping their head around the back door, and the dining room of the vicarage is full of jumble that Tim doesn't even notice, let alone think is a problem.
This is an intensely character driven novel, with human nature and all its foibles observed to great effect. Rentzenbrink writes with dry humour but it's also a moving tale of childhoods marred by great tragedy and how the trauma of dealing with it can trickle down through the rest of your life.
When Ann meets Jamie, a man who she feels not only attraction for, but a kinship with, it drives her to reflect on what's important to her. I thought this thread was beautifully written with both yearning and possibility (and impossibility too).
Ordinary Time is a story of a marriage, a family, a loss and a love. It's a quiet novel but one which delves deep into feelings and emotions. I particularly appreciated the honesty in Ann's narrative and how she let rip internally all that she didn't feel able to say aloud. It's a fabulous novel. I enjoy this author's perceptive and funny writing so much.
January 8, 2025
This was wonderful. Simple and heartfelt. It made me laugh and cry. I know this novel will stick with me.
November 14, 2024
This was a marvellous book of the female experience. Its completely authentic and I really looked forward to sitting down to pick it up and read it. Its full of the painful realities of modern life, married life, and being a Vicar's wife. Its also filled with heart filling amounts of wonderful humour, lively characters, and incredibly good dialogue. I heard Cathy R talk about the writing of this book at the Falmouth Book Festival. She pictured the church at Mylor Bridge as the setting for the book - but she said (I hope I'm not mis-quoting) that she picked up this church and set it near the GreenBank Hotel in Falmouth - so the views were from there. I had this picture in my mind as I read this awesome book.
October 31, 2024
Ordinary but enjoyable.
Read
July 27, 2025Ann has a loving and supportive relationship with her brother Stephen, but not with her husband Tim, a minister who is more interested in his flock than his family. He takes Ann for granted and is very cold towards his son.
Ann’s father took his own life on the railway, and Ann and Stephen there have been different but long lasting ripples through their lives as a result. It is very touching how just Ann’s presence can soothe Stephen.
Ann has a panic attack on a train, when there is “passenger action”, and she is helped by a stranger, Jamie, who turns out to be a friend of Stephen. Things develop…
Interesting take on relationships within a church, between a minister, church members, and agnostic wife of minister , and questioning son. The lack of joy or interest in anything material outside the church was also striking.
Ordinary Time is the religious term for the period between Easter and Advent .
I really liked this book.
Ann’s father took his own life on the railway, and Ann and Stephen there have been different but long lasting ripples through their lives as a result. It is very touching how just Ann’s presence can soothe Stephen.
Ann has a panic attack on a train, when there is “passenger action”, and she is helped by a stranger, Jamie, who turns out to be a friend of Stephen. Things develop…
Interesting take on relationships within a church, between a minister, church members, and agnostic wife of minister , and questioning son. The lack of joy or interest in anything material outside the church was also striking.
Ordinary Time is the religious term for the period between Easter and Advent .
I really liked this book.
March 20, 2025
4.5. I listened to the audio, wonderfully narrated by Olivia Poulet. I was drawn to this by the cover, weirdly though apart from the main character travelling by train a few times it doesn’t reflect the content of the book at all.
It’s mainly about a 40 something woman who is unhappy and frustrated by life. She’s married to a vicar who is more interested in serving god than caring for his wife and son.It covers big topics, grief, trauma, suicide, mental health including ocd. But it also has an underlying warmth and humour throughout that never felt jarring.I loved the relationship between Ann and her brother and sister in law. I enjoyed the cast of eccentric smaller characters. A minor complaint is that for me the affair with Jamie never rang true. I loved the message of hope and forgiveness.
It’s mainly about a 40 something woman who is unhappy and frustrated by life. She’s married to a vicar who is more interested in serving god than caring for his wife and son.It covers big topics, grief, trauma, suicide, mental health including ocd. But it also has an underlying warmth and humour throughout that never felt jarring.I loved the relationship between Ann and her brother and sister in law. I enjoyed the cast of eccentric smaller characters. A minor complaint is that for me the affair with Jamie never rang true. I loved the message of hope and forgiveness.
April 19, 2025
Not my usual read at all, ordinary but not, I enjoyed it but also found it Tim so frustrating, (I know you’re meant too) but it made the “wrapped up in a nice bow” ending very unlikely, good read though for something different
May 10, 2025
Probably a 4.5 - it was a lovely read
October 25, 2025
I loved it. Beautiful writing. Just my cup of tea.
December 1, 2025
Really enjoyed this book
December 14, 2025
Really enjoyed this book about an unhappily married vicar's wife. Some characters from her previous book also appear, which I liked very much.
March 27, 2025
Ann is a reluctant Vicar’s wife who is neglected by her husband and frustrated by the straight jacket of village expectations and pettiness. She has an affair, which gives her the confidence to be honest with her husband about how she is feeling with surprising results. I loved this book with its searing depiction of small village life and insightful portrayal of loneliness, redemption and ultimately what it means to be human. I especially loved how Ann is a character to be empathised rather than sympathised with - she has an inner strength, dry wit and isn’t happy to sell herself short. I will be reading more Cathy Rentsenbrink!
August 5, 2024
A wonderful book. Utterly loved it.
It’s worth a glance at the other reviews of this book, to see what authors this novels is being held alongside: Megan Mason, Anne Tyler, Barbara Pym. Really, that tells you all you need to know before choosing to read this.
Ordinary Time is a marvellous narrative of the female experience, utterly authentic and completely affecting. I so enjoyed each time I sat down to read it.
Full of the painful realities of modern life, married life, and life life, but also loaded with heart-filling amounts of wonderful humour, lively characters, and startling good dialogue.
Completely excellent.
Ps. Gentlemen: pay attention.
It’s worth a glance at the other reviews of this book, to see what authors this novels is being held alongside: Megan Mason, Anne Tyler, Barbara Pym. Really, that tells you all you need to know before choosing to read this.
Ordinary Time is a marvellous narrative of the female experience, utterly authentic and completely affecting. I so enjoyed each time I sat down to read it.
Full of the painful realities of modern life, married life, and life life, but also loaded with heart-filling amounts of wonderful humour, lively characters, and startling good dialogue.
Completely excellent.
Ps. Gentlemen: pay attention.
August 5, 2024
I liked it but I didn't love it. I could see what the Author was trying to do but imo she didn't do a well enough job for it to be a masterpiece. The writing and storyline kept me turning the pages though.
I didn't really like any of the characters apart from Sam and that's probably because I am a mother of sons and I felt maternal towards him.
Ann wanted to be noticed, she felt invisible and ignored. I get that. I really do. But she was married to a vicar-what did she expect? Said vicar was everything you expect a vicar to be and would certainly not get any awards for husband or father of the year.
The relationship she had with her brother was nice and I did feel for them both, with the issue of their father's suicide.
But what are the chances of her meeting somebody the complete opposite of her husband, him being attracted to her, coming to her aid and then being friends of her brother?
I just wanted to shake her at times and then when it got to the nitty gritty he even asked her permission when he made each move!! FFS woman, if you are craving excitement, and have an encounter with a bloke that you are in lust with just rip his ruddy clothes off!
The conclusion was too wrapped up nicely in a bow ending for me. I enjoyed the read but let me thinking "What was the point?"
I didn't really like any of the characters apart from Sam and that's probably because I am a mother of sons and I felt maternal towards him.
Ann wanted to be noticed, she felt invisible and ignored. I get that. I really do. But she was married to a vicar-what did she expect? Said vicar was everything you expect a vicar to be and would certainly not get any awards for husband or father of the year.
The relationship she had with her brother was nice and I did feel for them both, with the issue of their father's suicide.
But what are the chances of her meeting somebody the complete opposite of her husband, him being attracted to her, coming to her aid and then being friends of her brother?
I just wanted to shake her at times and then when it got to the nitty gritty he even asked her permission when he made each move!! FFS woman, if you are craving excitement, and have an encounter with a bloke that you are in lust with just rip his ruddy clothes off!
The conclusion was too wrapped up nicely in a bow ending for me. I enjoyed the read but let me thinking "What was the point?"
January 10, 2025
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the book - quite literally devoured it - up until the ending which left me feeling PISSED OFF. Why should the protagonist have to stay in a loveless and thankless marriage, where she is basically her husband's housemaid, all for the sake of being there for her child? To my knowledge, a parent can still be there for a child and not be with their father. I can understand that the ending is indicative of her husband changing and tries to offer some redemption by discussing his previous traumas etc but surely that's not enough to warrant staying after 10+ years of misery. The protagonist even acknowledges at the end that she cannot see herself sleeping in a double bed with him ever again and ends by debating when she needs to start cooking dinner for him and her son... icky
August 13, 2024
I have read all of this authors books, both her fiction and non-fiction. She's an author that I greatly admire, her passion for books, and her incredible insight into the often mundane lives of character are astonishing.
Ordinary Time is Ann's story. Ann's husband Tim is a vicar, they have a young son Sam and have lived in various parishes over the years. They've just moved to a rural parish in Cornwall. It's a tight-knit community where the church is at the heart of all business. The previous vicar was elderly and unmarried, his house is old and almost derelict in places. There's a bunch of locals who made it their life to ensure that he wanted for nothing.
Ann is struggling. She's never really believed in God, her marriage is not what she hoped for. Tim's whole life is centred around doing God's work, assisting others, being the rock of the community, but Ann and Sam have always come second. Tim is not an affectionate man, he is blunt and often appears not to notice his wife or child, except to tick them off when they do something that doesn't really fit nicely into the 'family of a vicar' box.
Ann meets Jamie when she goes on a mercy mission to help her brother Stephen who is having problems with life in general. Jamie notices her, she sees her as a woman, he is kind, he appears interested in what she has to say. He acknowledges her intelligence. Ann's inner world turns inside out, desperate to spend more time in the company of someone who doesn't just see the vicar's wife.
This is a wonderfully quiet book, it is often so funny, and always so astute and well observed. Rentzenbrink's ability to look deeper than the surface is tender, and generous and will speak volumes to a lot of women who are experiencing those 'what now' moments that creep up and take a firm hold sometimes.
At its heart, this is a novel about love, in all of its many forms. Ann and her brother have a tragic back story that has impacted so much on their entire lives. This is one of the reasons that Ann decided to marry Tim in the first place, to put aside her true character, to try to create a new world for herself.
Tim is a cold man, a man of God, yet not a man of family. Well respected, almost adored by some of his parishioners, he is unaware of the needs of his own family. It is not until the end of the book that the reader learns more about him, about why he has led this life, and how he bears his own scars from the past.
Populated with characters to love, including the awesome duo of Barbara and Doreen, two elderly women whose verbal battles are a joy to read. Ann's brother Stephen and his wife Sarah are beautifully created too and we cannot forget young Sam, the youngster with the wise head on his shoulders.
Compassionate, subtle and honest. Ordinary Time is a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
Ordinary Time is Ann's story. Ann's husband Tim is a vicar, they have a young son Sam and have lived in various parishes over the years. They've just moved to a rural parish in Cornwall. It's a tight-knit community where the church is at the heart of all business. The previous vicar was elderly and unmarried, his house is old and almost derelict in places. There's a bunch of locals who made it their life to ensure that he wanted for nothing.
Ann is struggling. She's never really believed in God, her marriage is not what she hoped for. Tim's whole life is centred around doing God's work, assisting others, being the rock of the community, but Ann and Sam have always come second. Tim is not an affectionate man, he is blunt and often appears not to notice his wife or child, except to tick them off when they do something that doesn't really fit nicely into the 'family of a vicar' box.
Ann meets Jamie when she goes on a mercy mission to help her brother Stephen who is having problems with life in general. Jamie notices her, she sees her as a woman, he is kind, he appears interested in what she has to say. He acknowledges her intelligence. Ann's inner world turns inside out, desperate to spend more time in the company of someone who doesn't just see the vicar's wife.
This is a wonderfully quiet book, it is often so funny, and always so astute and well observed. Rentzenbrink's ability to look deeper than the surface is tender, and generous and will speak volumes to a lot of women who are experiencing those 'what now' moments that creep up and take a firm hold sometimes.
At its heart, this is a novel about love, in all of its many forms. Ann and her brother have a tragic back story that has impacted so much on their entire lives. This is one of the reasons that Ann decided to marry Tim in the first place, to put aside her true character, to try to create a new world for herself.
Tim is a cold man, a man of God, yet not a man of family. Well respected, almost adored by some of his parishioners, he is unaware of the needs of his own family. It is not until the end of the book that the reader learns more about him, about why he has led this life, and how he bears his own scars from the past.
Populated with characters to love, including the awesome duo of Barbara and Doreen, two elderly women whose verbal battles are a joy to read. Ann's brother Stephen and his wife Sarah are beautifully created too and we cannot forget young Sam, the youngster with the wise head on his shoulders.
Compassionate, subtle and honest. Ordinary Time is a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
August 26, 2025
This is a book that I have really enjoyed. I went to a book signing about a month ago and Cathy Rentzenbrink was one of three authors that were signing the books!
I do like the cover of the book. It's set as if you're looking at the window of a train and it did remind me of travelling down to Cornwall on it as I looked at the cover.
We meet Ann , the wife of Tim who is a Vicar and they have a young son called Sam.
Tim relocates them as a family to Cornwall to take over the role of vicar for that area after a close friend Father Robert retires and insists that Tim takes over his role.
They move into a house that is dirty and smelly and there's a lot of work, which makes Ann unhappy, but Tim seems oblivious to this as he starts his role of Vicar immediately with with the arrival of his parishioners Barbara and Doreen who to be honest throughout the whole of book are demanding his attention and here lies the problem.
Ann and her son Sam are deprived of Tim's attention and rarely get his love or even civil words , thanks or appreciation as he is too exhausted at the end of the day and Ann it's finding it intolerable.
Then she meets Jamie , a man who she finds attractive and who is interested in her and what she wants to say and gives her attention. After a slow time getting to know each other , they start an affair. Ann feel like she has finally been seen and she starts to realise that she wouldn't accept Tim's behaviour no more and he starts to notice this and yet he doesn't understand it all, or that his behaviour to his son is unloving, impatient and unacceptable.
In the end , Ann tells him the truth about Jamie and they start to work on their marriage . Ann also tells him how she has found his behaviour to her and their son and how she expects him to change and make an effort, learn to be thankful and learn not to be so harsh to their son Sam.
I also liked hearing about the background of Ann and her brother Stephen's life when they were younger, and that as siblings they're still very supportive of each other and I liked their closeness and I think that might be the favourite part of my book to be honest as Cathy Rentzenbrink wrote their scenes with such a empathic sympathy and strong feelings of love that it had me memorised when I read it.
I really liked Ann as a character, who starts to find herself after the move to Cornwall and realises what's missing and what she wants to happen . I like how her character grew over the story and found her voice and how to stand up for her and her son with her husband, but I also felt sympathy for her that she was put into that situation in the first place.
For me this has been a five star read as the characters are all well written, the scenes I have imagined in my head so easily and of course the book is set in my lovely home county of Cornwall , which to me is always a blessing to find a story set in a place I love so much.
I do like the cover of the book. It's set as if you're looking at the window of a train and it did remind me of travelling down to Cornwall on it as I looked at the cover.
We meet Ann , the wife of Tim who is a Vicar and they have a young son called Sam.
Tim relocates them as a family to Cornwall to take over the role of vicar for that area after a close friend Father Robert retires and insists that Tim takes over his role.
They move into a house that is dirty and smelly and there's a lot of work, which makes Ann unhappy, but Tim seems oblivious to this as he starts his role of Vicar immediately with with the arrival of his parishioners Barbara and Doreen who to be honest throughout the whole of book are demanding his attention and here lies the problem.
Ann and her son Sam are deprived of Tim's attention and rarely get his love or even civil words , thanks or appreciation as he is too exhausted at the end of the day and Ann it's finding it intolerable.
Then she meets Jamie , a man who she finds attractive and who is interested in her and what she wants to say and gives her attention. After a slow time getting to know each other , they start an affair. Ann feel like she has finally been seen and she starts to realise that she wouldn't accept Tim's behaviour no more and he starts to notice this and yet he doesn't understand it all, or that his behaviour to his son is unloving, impatient and unacceptable.
In the end , Ann tells him the truth about Jamie and they start to work on their marriage . Ann also tells him how she has found his behaviour to her and their son and how she expects him to change and make an effort, learn to be thankful and learn not to be so harsh to their son Sam.
I also liked hearing about the background of Ann and her brother Stephen's life when they were younger, and that as siblings they're still very supportive of each other and I liked their closeness and I think that might be the favourite part of my book to be honest as Cathy Rentzenbrink wrote their scenes with such a empathic sympathy and strong feelings of love that it had me memorised when I read it.
I really liked Ann as a character, who starts to find herself after the move to Cornwall and realises what's missing and what she wants to happen . I like how her character grew over the story and found her voice and how to stand up for her and her son with her husband, but I also felt sympathy for her that she was put into that situation in the first place.
For me this has been a five star read as the characters are all well written, the scenes I have imagined in my head so easily and of course the book is set in my lovely home county of Cornwall , which to me is always a blessing to find a story set in a place I love so much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 1, 2025There were some elements of this novel that really worked, and I genuinely hate giving a review that's negative.
But I feel weird enough that I need to say something about the lazy stereotyping of the Irish dad (sorry - but does he even get a name?) What do we know about him? He is apparently the source of all the narrator's trauma and why she has ended up in a miserable marriage, and her brother has a variety of mental health conditions.
Why? Because her nameless father, whose only traits are: being Irish, being Catholic, being an alcoholic, being a gambler, being a walking anachronism dies when she is a teenager, whether through misadventure or suicide is never even quite clear.
Sure why bother giving him a voice? The only times the man speaks in Ann's memory is to tell some story about being asleep? In? A? Hole? The reason for which is less clear than the fact his daughter is embarrassed by his uncouth use of Hiberno English. Or let's not forget the memory of dear ol Dad singing ‘The Foggy Dew’, when he was drunk, standing, with his hand on his heart. Ah, memories.
Mind you this is from the same woman whose major dissatisfaction with her husband is expressed via her contempt for a hypothetical menu choice: "something cheap and filling – pasta arrabbiata." God how dare he?
What part of Ireland is Ann's dear ol dad from? We never find out. He does take her and her brother there on holiday but she only remembers running round barefoot on a beach.
Ok what about his Irish friends, surely they will add some rich cultural depth and nuance? Well Tommy Mac and Jimmy Murphy and Bobby Rooney (actual names) turn up for the wake and feed their dead friend's 14 year old enough whiskey to make him sick, so that will be a no then.
Ann's dad is just the placeholder for her elder millennial childhood trauma narrative but for a character who features this often to be this lazy and stereotyped is two dimensional storytelling. It adds an extra level of ridiculousness that all of this took place in the 90s, whereas her unreconstructed father feels like a lazy stereotype from a few decades earlier.
Nevermind the ending where she chooses to stay in her loveless marriage for the good of her child and this is a... positive choice?
I don't know. Everyone else has given this one a rave review but I felt very weird reading it.
But I feel weird enough that I need to say something about the lazy stereotyping of the Irish dad (sorry - but does he even get a name?) What do we know about him? He is apparently the source of all the narrator's trauma and why she has ended up in a miserable marriage, and her brother has a variety of mental health conditions.
Why? Because her nameless father, whose only traits are: being Irish, being Catholic, being an alcoholic, being a gambler, being a walking anachronism dies when she is a teenager, whether through misadventure or suicide is never even quite clear.
Sure why bother giving him a voice? The only times the man speaks in Ann's memory is to tell some story about being asleep? In? A? Hole? The reason for which is less clear than the fact his daughter is embarrassed by his uncouth use of Hiberno English. Or let's not forget the memory of dear ol Dad singing ‘The Foggy Dew’, when he was drunk, standing, with his hand on his heart. Ah, memories.
Mind you this is from the same woman whose major dissatisfaction with her husband is expressed via her contempt for a hypothetical menu choice: "something cheap and filling – pasta arrabbiata." God how dare he?
What part of Ireland is Ann's dear ol dad from? We never find out. He does take her and her brother there on holiday but she only remembers running round barefoot on a beach.
Ok what about his Irish friends, surely they will add some rich cultural depth and nuance? Well Tommy Mac and Jimmy Murphy and Bobby Rooney (actual names) turn up for the wake and feed their dead friend's 14 year old enough whiskey to make him sick, so that will be a no then.
Ann's dad is just the placeholder for her elder millennial childhood trauma narrative but for a character who features this often to be this lazy and stereotyped is two dimensional storytelling. It adds an extra level of ridiculousness that all of this took place in the 90s, whereas her unreconstructed father feels like a lazy stereotype from a few decades earlier.
Nevermind the ending where she chooses to stay in her loveless marriage for the good of her child and this is a... positive choice?
I don't know. Everyone else has given this one a rave review but I felt very weird reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2024
"It is unfortunate timing, I think, to be experiencing first love while in my forties and married to somebody else."
This is an absolute dream of a character-driven novel! Ann is a young woman who makes the decision to marry Tim, an "up and coming" vicar, to help her get away from her stifling mother. The years pass and it becomes clear that whilst her husband is a good man and has built good relationships with his congregation, he has no time for her and their young son when he gets home. Ann hopes that moving to Cornwall will be the fresh start they need but if anything, the damp vicarage, piles of jumble filling the sitting room and the verger letting themselves in whenever they want to just makes it clear their relationship is in the doldrums. On a rare visit to her brother in London, Ann unexpectedly meets Jamie, a man who reignites her love of life and helps her realise what she wants for her future - and her marriage.
I loved reading this novel and adored every page. The writing was excellent - I really felt for Ann in the miserable damp vicarage and being taken for granted by her husband (and his parishioners!). The book is not sad and miserable though, far from it - the writing is also very darkly funny in places (the kind that causes you to laugh out loud in the middle of Boston Tea Party! Speaking from personal experience...), which adds a freshness and spark to Ann's character.
I think it was @julia_flyte who originally brought Ordinary Time to my attention - do check out her (excellent) review! I also listened to the episode of Sara and Cariad's Weirdo's Podcast that features the author, Cathy Rentzenbrink, being interviewed about it (go back to October 2024 if you want to listen). It was so good that I had to place a reservation at the library immediately! I read it back in November and still thinking about it now - always the sign of a good read!! One of my top books of 2024, a real pleasure to read.
This is an absolute dream of a character-driven novel! Ann is a young woman who makes the decision to marry Tim, an "up and coming" vicar, to help her get away from her stifling mother. The years pass and it becomes clear that whilst her husband is a good man and has built good relationships with his congregation, he has no time for her and their young son when he gets home. Ann hopes that moving to Cornwall will be the fresh start they need but if anything, the damp vicarage, piles of jumble filling the sitting room and the verger letting themselves in whenever they want to just makes it clear their relationship is in the doldrums. On a rare visit to her brother in London, Ann unexpectedly meets Jamie, a man who reignites her love of life and helps her realise what she wants for her future - and her marriage.
I loved reading this novel and adored every page. The writing was excellent - I really felt for Ann in the miserable damp vicarage and being taken for granted by her husband (and his parishioners!). The book is not sad and miserable though, far from it - the writing is also very darkly funny in places (the kind that causes you to laugh out loud in the middle of Boston Tea Party! Speaking from personal experience...), which adds a freshness and spark to Ann's character.
I think it was @julia_flyte who originally brought Ordinary Time to my attention - do check out her (excellent) review! I also listened to the episode of Sara and Cariad's Weirdo's Podcast that features the author, Cathy Rentzenbrink, being interviewed about it (go back to October 2024 if you want to listen). It was so good that I had to place a reservation at the library immediately! I read it back in November and still thinking about it now - always the sign of a good read!! One of my top books of 2024, a real pleasure to read.
September 16, 2024
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I read this novel - it was more the fact that it was a new book that I picked it up rather than anything I had heard of before. I have heard of the author but not read anything by her. At its heart, it is a book about a wife in a marrige that is going sour, her love for her son, and another man who awakens her. She doesn't leave her husband but stays with him and her marriage improves somewhat. It could be read as quite dispiriting if it wasn't for the main character's love for her son.
The complication of the marriage is that the husband is a vicar and married to God, and his wife is not and does not want to play the vicar's wife, that unpaid job that has her at the beck and call of everyone. I really wanted to bash the husband around the head with his bible, so taken up with his God and working wonders that he couldn't see anything else under his nose.
The family move down to Cornwall for Tim's job and find themselves in a vicarage that is out of date, dirty and with loads of jumble stored in it, the vicar having previously been a single man. When the ceiling starts to fall in on their first night, it is almost the last straw. Ann is saved by her brother's breakdown and has to leave go to London to help him. It is here that she meets Jamie, an ex-soldier with muscles and brains. He has all the women giggling but he chooses Ann. Here, I thought the book a bit trite and playing to the tropes of a romance - big, muscley man wants small, mousey Ann. Perhaps it is meant to be like this because it is the only time when it is not 'ordinary' more stereotyped. The ordinary time is back with Tim, playing out all the small daily domestic details and getting through life with some semblance of hope.
I did wonder if it would make a good paring with Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being.
The complication of the marriage is that the husband is a vicar and married to God, and his wife is not and does not want to play the vicar's wife, that unpaid job that has her at the beck and call of everyone. I really wanted to bash the husband around the head with his bible, so taken up with his God and working wonders that he couldn't see anything else under his nose.
The family move down to Cornwall for Tim's job and find themselves in a vicarage that is out of date, dirty and with loads of jumble stored in it, the vicar having previously been a single man. When the ceiling starts to fall in on their first night, it is almost the last straw. Ann is saved by her brother's breakdown and has to leave go to London to help him. It is here that she meets Jamie, an ex-soldier with muscles and brains. He has all the women giggling but he chooses Ann. Here, I thought the book a bit trite and playing to the tropes of a romance - big, muscley man wants small, mousey Ann. Perhaps it is meant to be like this because it is the only time when it is not 'ordinary' more stereotyped. The ordinary time is back with Tim, playing out all the small daily domestic details and getting through life with some semblance of hope.
I did wonder if it would make a good paring with Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being.
November 11, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. A non too challenging, yet meaningful, read for curling up with and devouring. I have read 2 other books by Cathy Retzenbrink, but both of them non-fiction and describing her heartfelt experiences during and after the life of her brother. I loved those so I thought I'd give this fiction book of hers a try. I was not disappointed. I was attracted to it because of it's religious theme and was not surprised to read on some sort of blog somewhere that Cathy had clergy in her family. This was not surprising; unless you have, at some point, been a member of a church or related to someone within it, I don't think you could fully "get" the eccentricities and fussiness that can be witnessed there, especially from leading, helpful volunteers. (Of course, I don't speak of all here but there is definitely always an element!). Anyway Cathy describes that well and with lots of humour.
I was never sure which way the ending would go, which way it might twist. Probably whatever outcome Cathy Retzenbrink had presented would have made for some sort of sadness. All I can say without giving the ending away, is that I think I would like to read a sequel!
I was never sure which way the ending would go, which way it might twist. Probably whatever outcome Cathy Retzenbrink had presented would have made for some sort of sadness. All I can say without giving the ending away, is that I think I would like to read a sequel!
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