A Private Man

by Stephanie Sy-Quia

His grandfather had been a Catholic priest. A story in seven words, and his life the unsolved mystery.

Rome, 1953. David is young, handsome, charismatic, and sworn to celibacy. He is freshly ordained, and about to return to England to begin life as a priest. Devotion to God is all he’s ever known, and all he thinks he ever will.

In London, Margaret is entangled in an impossible love affair. Increasingly drawn to the Church, she sets out to join the new revolutions of sex and faith.

Decades later, Margaret is being cared for by her grandson who has just discovered the strange truth of his family history, and the consquences of her and David's relationship across the generations.

Stephanie Sy Quia's debut novel A Private Man is an exquisite story of forbidden love and ardent faith, of devotion and sacrifice.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical, Romance

253 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 24, 2026

Reviews

[fede · Rating 4 out of 5]

➳ four stars.

“It was every passing pleasure, every pleasure passing; for ever and ever.”

Fleabag but she’s a theology teacher in an English College (not a guinea pig-themed bar owner), they fall in love and their whole world turns upside down. A Private Man is a rollercoaster, and I really liked the experience.

Love happens when we aren’t actively looking for it. It doesn’t surprise me that Margaret and David, our main protagonists, met each other at work. Margaret is an intelligent woman who always speaks her mind, especially when it will get her into trouble. David is a devoted priest, who loves his job and believes in his calling. But when he finds Margaret it’s as if he suddenly realizes he might want something different for his life. Without thinking too much about it, the two start spending more and more time together, and slowly end up falling for each other.

Directly inspired by her grandparents's love story, Stephanie Sy-Quia has managed to write a novel that talks about religion, priesthood, and the position of women inside the Catholic church during the 1950s. The writing is gorgeous, I highlighted so many lines. I loved the focus on sensory details, as well as the descriptions.

I would have loved to read more about the older timeline, especially about Margaret’s involvement with the organization helping women get abortions. Maybe it would have been better if the book solely focused on Margaret and David’s timeline, I feel like the contemporary timeline didn’t add much to the story.

Overall, I liked this. Don’t let the shortness of this fool you. This novel will leave you with a lot of questions, so I do recommend it.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic for the Advance Copy. All opinions are my own.

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family secrets and a forbidden love story - i’m so excited to finally read this!!

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

We begin this beautiful novel with the discovery of a family secret. Adrian learns of his grandparent's unconventional romance at the funeral of his great uncle. As he begins caring for his elderly grandmother, whose mind is increasingly being lost to dementia, he tries to discover the true story behind their marriage. It is shocking but ultimately a story of real love.

This is an incredibly moving book, which is based on the history of the author's own grandparents. It absolutely took my breath away at times. The prose is lyrical and evocative. Margaret and David's story is not sensationalised, it is simply the story of two people who, despite their circumstances and love of their faith, could not see a life without the other one in it.

An absolutely beautiful book that I would highly recommend.

There are some difficult themes discussed, including domestic violence, abortion and religion. They are dealt with sensitively.

Thankyou very much to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the advance review copy. Very much appreciated.

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book for review.

This is a really beautiful and realistic love story between a Catholic priest and a progressive teacher in the 1960s (and beyond). The first part of the book tells about David and Margaret's young lives before they meet, and the second part it after they meet and eventually fall in love.

The language in this story is absolutely stunning and is truly an ode to life and all it's intricacies. So much attention was paid to the sensorial details of these characters' experiences, particularly touch between humans and the love of food and art, that it made me want to run outside and feel the sun on my skin and contemplate the joys of life while eating my favorite fruit.

The love story was a wonderful slow burn, but more than that I loved just getting to know David and Margaret. They were such captivating and lovely characters in their own ways, always giving themselves to make a better world and to love people in the ways they know how (David with his priesthood and Margaret with her "social justice"). I particularly gravitated towards Margaret and her ever-questioning philosophy on societal norms. I was enraptured by all of the discourse on what it means to love people and to fulfill one's calling in life; I love a book with subtle philosophical undertones that really open my mind.

I can't wait until this is published and will definitely be ordering a copy for my library.

[Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an ARC!

This was a fantastically written and beautifully depicted love story. Brimming with sensuality and desire, spanning vast swaths of time, two individuals grapple with the draw they feel for one another as it collides with faith and religion. Smart, touching, and a fantastic adventure

[Vmndetta ᛑᛗᛛ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really had high expectations for this book and wanted to love it so badly, but alas, it was such a letdown.

RTC.

[Ben Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephanie Sy-Quia is an award winning poet who with this, her debut novel, has written a work of quiet power, whose impact slowly crescendos until it leaves you bereft at its end.

It is a novel of dual timelines - in 2018, Adrian is caring for his ageing, increasingly infirm grandmother, Margaret. He learns of her relationship in the 1950s, when as a theology teacher, she is drawn into the orbit of David, a Catholic priest. It is this relationship that forms the backbone of this very beautifully drawn work. Sy-Quia has taken an element of autobiography from her family and shaped it into something memorable and effective.

There are no great set-pieces here, no major fireworks, just a very human and real story that draws you in and makes you care. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful and unique story about a love between a priest and a progressive teacher. It’s secretive and the pace of the book is great, but I really enjoyed getting to know David and Margaret as people and that’s what kept me hooked as I read. I related a lot to her character and I loved the way this story spans time so we can see how things started and turned out. This is a book that takes place in the past but is still relevant today. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*

A Private Man starts in 1953 and follows David who is ordained and about to start life as a Priest in England. He is handsome but sworn to celibacy and is devoted to God as that’s all he has ever known. In London, Margaret is entangled in a love affair with a married man. She knows the relationship can’t work but she is sexually free and wants to live by her own rules and ends up joining a women’s movement that challenges the rules of the church. David and Margaret end up working together at a Catholic college and they have an undeniable connection. But David is bound by his duties as a Priest and David is forbidden from starting anything with Margaret.

I found this story to be very powerful and I enjoyed it. It is a short read that really packs a punch. This book is told from David and Margaret’s POV when they are young but also from their grandson, Adrian as he looks after his grandmother. As soon as David and Margaret met I could feel their connection and I just love everything about this book. I liked what this had to say about faith and religion. Margaret is an interesting character to follow because she believes in God but doesn’t subscribe to the old and archaic rules of the religion. I really appreciate this story and I will be recommending this. It was an unexpected read for me and I’m very glad I took a chance on this.

[em ☕️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was a really lovely yet tragic story to read and despite being a divergence from what I normally reach for I'm so glad I requested it!

the prose was beautiful and almost poetic in a way and although it sometimes was a little difficult to follow I really did love reading it.

the dual timelines really made you get the history of this family which I loved and the discussions of their interests and joys, particularly in the parts set in rome felt so rich it was a delight to read.

the characters just felt so real and now knowing that they're based on the author's family causes it to hit even harder.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

[klaudia katarzyna]

gives me heavy vibes, kinda like Douglas Stuart's books???

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The First Vatican Council had concluded almost a century before by condemning the spirit of its times: socialism, liberalism, secularism, modernism, rationalism. Between the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council, there had been three hundred years, an Enlightenment; the very concept of the individual human self had been redrawn. And between the First and the now Second Vatican Council, the change was only accelerating. Margaret felt the rush of it all in the balls of her feet; it flickered in her peripheral vision. Women had moved in that century, across from the jurisdiction of chattel law to that of the person. They had suffrage now, polio vaccination programmes, the lubricated condom, the H-bomb. The great mass of the Church was lumbering out of a deep and dark frankincensy fug in order to meet a new century. The word being used was aggiornamento: mise à jour. A bringing up to date. Margaret and her peers were running over with optimism, with hope. It felt so enlivened. It was lit with the great questions of contraception, abortion, opening up the clergy, priestly celibacy, freedom of theological research, overpopulation, what marriage and family were for. These were all, Margaret knew, questions about women. What women were for.

 
This book – written by a Forward Prize winning poet - featured in the 2026 version of the influential and frequently literary-prize-prescient annual Observer Best Debut Novelist feature. 
 
And the accompanying article gives an excellent explanation of this distinctive novel’s base as a fictionalised version of a remarkable part of family history (which is also clear from the extensive Author’s note.
 
“My grandfather was a Catholic priest.  He and my grandmother fell in love, he got expelled violently from the church and they ran away” from Staffordshire to Libya. Sy-Quia’s grandfather died when she was six. Years later, after university, she went to France to care for her grandmother, who was “sliding into dementia” while “throwing out the odd little bone” of intrigue from her past. It dawned on Sy-Quia that her grandparents had endured “two different experiences of Catholicism that were thwarted by the 20th century. I wanted to write about that.”
 
The novel – which interleaves sections set over 2018-19 and historical sections set mainly over 1953-1966 (but then continuing briefly on for several decades) – begins in 2018 with Adrian (who is effectively a stand-in for the author) attending the funeral of his maternal great Uncle Ralph (representing his mother Hilary, daughter of the buried man’s long-deceased brother, his grandfather David) and being given a crucifix which Hilary passed to Ralph when her father David died, after his “lacization” …… a word the reader follows Adrian in googling for us both to discover that David was once a Catholic Priest before he got together with Adrian’s grandmother Margaret (being only fully released from his vows on his deathbed).
 
In the present day, Adrian – still looking for jobs post University and in need of somewhere to live – heads to France immediately post funeral to care for his ageing and increasingly dementia prone grandmother.
 
And in the longer historical sections we learn of David and Margaret.  David trains to be a priest in Rome before returning to a parish priest in the Midlands – a vocation which he takes to naturally.  Margaret meanwhile, sexually confident and active, after graduating from Oxford works as a teacher (with a stonemason lover) and is attracted to Catholicism before, after the death of her parents, becoming one of the first women (of course laypeople due to the Catholic churches insistence on male priesthood – which is a crucial part of the novel) to attend theological training at a Rome college.  Her time there is just as the City is convulsed by the Second Vatican council as the Catholic church is summoned to debate the theology of the church.  When she returns to England as a theology teacher at a Catholic girls school where David also teaches (and oversees her) the two are drawn together – not least in reinforcing each other’s views that the catholic church in its insistence on celibacy and male priests is both untrue to the gospel and sowing the seeds of its own downfall.  Later when their views – and allegations about their inappropriate closeness - get them into trouble David is sent away to a much more deprived parish but this only strengthens their bond as he refers parishioners to Margaret who, without his active consent, helps them with things like domestic abuse and unwanted pregnancies – and as their bond grows ever closer it tests David’s vows with an end result that we already know.
 
Meanwhile in the present day we have a mix of Adrian’s attempts to care for his grandmother and her recollections of the past – sometimes as relayed to him, sometimes it would seem in her own fragmented mind.
 
Initially I have to admit that I struggled with the novel – my own slight evangelical/charismatic protestant bafflement at high church Catholicism coloured my appreciation of and interest in the scenes set in Rome and in David’s parish: and I also felt the Rome scenes were a little too much from the Year-in-Provence European food/culture is wonderful type of writing (albeit the contrast to England was probably much starker at the time in which this is set so as well as my prejudices I am also probably bring an anachronistic critical judgement).
 
But the novel really took off as the two meet in England and particularly as their very consciously (particularly on Margaret’s side) intelligent, deeply thought through, theological debates and assertions, and genuine sadness at the missed opportunity of the Vatican council to do any more than permit the Mass in local language, is portrayed (especially against a rapidly liberalising society).  Again, perhaps my own filter here – but more a positive one, as I have sadly seen the same issues actively play out (and felt the same sadness) even some 60 years later.
 
And in the narrative (and for both the author and Adrian family biographical terms) the power of these sections grow as the two realise that their very relationship is forbidden by the reactionary establishment church views they are opposing – forcing a life in exile (which is what the last pages quickly cover – albeit they are key to the novel’s title and concluding idea.
 

Another time, another place. She says: It is good. Here, with you. He spreads his arms and grins at her, and birds climb in the currents of the air as he replies. Let me lessen my request. Let me breathe between the heavens and the earth, a private man. To live a quiet life: this too can be a radical political act.

 
For all their importance to the author’s conception I also have to say that I did not think the modern day passages added much, if anything to the novel, I found myself forcing myself not to skim them to go back to the developing and engrossing historical tale, one which I think may see this quite, deeply researched, intelligent but also moving novel as a Walter Scott Prize contender.
 
My thanks to Picador for an ARC via NetGalley

[Paul Wagenbreth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hammer will surely fall on her for this, lay teacher Margaret Bendelow, one of the two principals in Stephanie Sy-Quai’s disquieting “A Private Man,” thinks as she casts restraint to the wind and goes on to enlighten her age-20ish Catholic female students about the facts of life after drawing blankness from them with a reference of hers to “ejaculate.”
They’re ignorant of their own plumbing, she says of them to her priest colleague and lover-to-be, David Fletcher, who’s aghast at what she’s done – this will come back to bite you, he says – while at the same time he’s struck anew by her captivating forthrightness, a particularly dramatic instance of which he witnesses at a pub when she fires back at a homophobic acquaintance of David’s brother, Ralph, when the bigot says that he dreaded to think what homosexuals did in bed.
“Then don’t,” she responds, adding that she didn’t care to imagine what he did in bed either, and further disconcerting him – it sends him off in a huff – by saying that, besides, many couples use anal sex as a way of avoiding pregnancy.
“Where on Earth did you come from,” a bemused Ralph asks her in the bar incident, showing the same enchantment with her frankness that David feels in hearing about her outspokenness at the school, even as he’s fearful about what the school episode will bring.
A warranted fear, as it turns out, with how no sooner is she back at school, where word of the incident has spread like wildfire, than she is summoned by her superior, Sister Augusta.
How dare she do what she did, Margaret is scolded as she tries to make a case for herself, saying that she believes that “if Catholicism is to be a vivifying force in our society, in the future, then what is needed is for its women to have a high degree of self-knowledge.”
But for all the immediacy of Margaret’s declaration, this being 1963 and progressivism much in the air, Sister Augusta isn’t having it. “What you believe,” she says with a look like thunder, “is not the question,” and she proceeds to tell Margaret that she’ll be terminated and David, whose liaison with Margaret has become known, will be transferred.
Still, for all the clear distress that Catholicism makes for Margaret, how it will go on to have an unsettling impact on her for the rest of her life, she understands its appeal, with how it makes for sublimating oneself to something “so much larger, something ancient and unbroken, its acoustics ringing through you.”
And indeed a running concern of the novel is this duality of the Church whereby it can be a source of great comfort for its adherents while also being an occasion for great distress in their lives, particularly about sexuality.
A particularly disturbing instance of the latter, for instance, is the account David gives to Margaret about an incident from his school days when two boys, one older and one younger, had been caught “doing things” and a Father Porter at the school (surely not coincidental, his sharing the name of the real-life sexual abuser) calls the older boy before a school assembly and after making it clear without actually saying it exactly what the boys had done (the worm in the rose, the rot which needed to be rooted out, he proclaims about their behavior), has the boy drop his pants (oh, no, thinks Margaret) and has a colleague thrash the boy’s bare buttocks with a whip ten, twenty, thirty times, having the boys in the assembly keep count as the spectacle clearly proves sexually transporting for Porter.
All of which was particularly germane for me, with my having been raised Catholic but finally turning away from the Church precisely for its obsession about sexuality, with the final stone for me being when the Newman chaplain at my college, inflamed with parochial zeal, pictured two imaginary young people headed for hell or purgatory, I forget which, after they’d been necking in an automobile and were unable to make it to confession before being killed in a car crash. (Mary Gordon’s “There Your Heart Lies,” situated in the Spanish Civil War, is particularly good on the Church’s obsession with sex, with its protagonist saying at one point, “it was always something sexual they were cruel about. They didn’t care what you did, you could kill someone while you were driving drunk, you could beat your wife to a pulp, and they’d be oh so ready with forgiveness. But some poor wretch of a kid gets pregnant – they’d shame her until she wanted to die.”)
A fast, even riveting read, in short, Sy-Quai’s novel, especially for active or lapsed Catholics, even if its lyrical prose which made for especially pleasurable reading for me most of the time could also on occasion elude specific meaning for me (“our work is the unfolding of souls,” say). Also, I’m not sure if the novel’s somewhat convoluted structure, which alternates between the present, when Margaret is being visited by her grandson, and the past, when the affair is at its most intense, adds to the novel's force. Still, easily one of the best books I’ve read this year, Sy-Quai’s absorbing account of the Church and sexual love.

[Em Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance reader copy of A Private Man in exchange for my honest review.

I come from a staunchly Catholic family, and Catholicism is something that has brought my family both comfort and pain, depending on who you ask. Because of that, I was intrigued by the premise of this novel.

Raised Catholic, I think David initially enters the priesthood as a form of atonement for his role in the war, having fought for the side responsible for the unimaginable atrocities at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In adulthood, he is deeply committed to his oath to God and his vow of celibacy, yet he craves intimacy and connection, something he can’t seem to admit even to himself. This internal conflict is written beautifully.

Margaret is similarly lonely. In the past timeline, we meet her as she enters and leaves a love affair with a married man. She is also a believer, but far more socially progressive than the general Catholic consensus.

When the two characters meet, Margaret gives voice to everything David has been suppressing. Their connection is immediate, but David’s faith is such an integral part of his identity that he doesn’t know if loving and being loved by someone will be enough to fill the void he’ll be left with should he abandon it. The tension between a higher calling and personal desire was one of the most powerful aspects of the book.

The ending was very strong, both hopeful and heartbreaking, and as a result, realistic.

I did feel I understood David much more than I did Margaret. I would’ve liked to see her story fleshed out a little further as it was very interesting. Still, I liked her. My only real issue is that, despite the blurb promising that the story would explore the “consequences that will reverberate across the generations”, the contemporary timeline didn’t land for me. It certainly wasn’t boring, but I struggled to see how it served the story. It showed the end result of those consequences, but I think the emotional impact would’ve landed harder if we’d seen them play out in the past timeline instead, as they were only touched on very briefly.

I think readers who enjoy deeply introspective and character-driven stories about faith and sacrifice and forbidden love will likely love this. I loved the characters so I didn’t find this book slow at all, but it might not work as well for readers who prefer fast-paced or plot-heavy novels.

[Bookish Tokyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Let me lessen my request Let me breathe between the heavens and the earth, a private man”.
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How can I adequately talk about a book that I found aggressively okay? It neither sparked a flurry of interest nor a yearning to abandon it. I wonder about the source of this passive feeling towards what is, at times, a beautifully written book. I think some of this comes from the sense that poets can struggle when they are given the great expanse of story-writing, often sentences are over-constructed in an attempt to be meaningful and beautiful, but end up losing the former and becoming a mushy mess of vibes and quotable sentences, fit for a cute Instagram story, looking at Ocean Vuong as an example. Yet this isn’t quite that. There is much beauty here, but it is rationed out amidst prose that is propulsive and well crafted.
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The concept, a word that, to me, implies an act of imaginative creation, is based on the author’s own family history, which adds a certain piquancy to the text. While I would likely class myself as agnostic, there is something about the theatrics and aesthetics of Catholicism that, like a moth to the light, I am drawn to, until that is, it comes into contact with small-minded people and the strictures of organised religion. The forbidden nature of a priest falling in love with a woman is seen, as described in the book, as equivalent to sexual abuse. I wonder whether things are different now, though that seems unlikely.
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This sounds slightly too serious to be called a romance, but romantic it is. The intimate scenes are well done, not heavy-handed, but rendered with a certain realism. And yet it all left me somewhat cold. I found the beginning rather confusing, with the present and past merging, people’s names thrown out and family connections mentioned as if we already knew them. There was also a habit of using low-frequency words which imbued a sense of unnecessary showing-off. I also wanted to remain in the past, with Margaret and David; here, I felt the book was at its most interesting, as opposed to the present-day sections.
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With gratitude to Picador for the advanced copy and netgalley for giving me the reading opportunity.

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2018 Adrian attends his great uncle Ralph’s funeral where he receives a shocking revelation which his mother confirms as true. However, the story starts in 1953 in Rome with David who is a charismatic, handsome, newly ordained priest. He returns to England to a parish in Birmingham where he will begin to serve the community. Margaret becomes a Roman Catholic but wishes to challenge its archaic rules. She studies for a time at Regina Mundi in Rome and eventually acquires a job in a Catholic College where she’s drawn into David’s orbit. This is their story told in flashbacks and in the late 2010s via Adrian.

This is such a beautifully written debut novel which has me caught up in David and Michelle‘s lives, it really captures their story, their love of literature, art, food and so on. It’s almost lyrical and poetic (no surprise as I believe the author is a poet!) and is extremely emotional and moving especially for me via David and in the present day through Adrian as loses his much loved grandmother, Margaret, to the cruelty of dementia. Her moments of clarity are very illuminating of her and David’s powerful and wonderful story and they’re obvious love of their faith. This obviously gives David much inner turmoil but their feelings for each other win out. I particularly love Margaret, she’s quite simply fabulous, she’s highly intelligent and devastatingly honest and well ahead of her time. The author also really captures the charisma and attraction of David.

The novel has everything in it, there are a couple of shocking scenes where I have a sharp intake of breath, scenes where closed thinking is the order of the day, it’s a love story, it’s a reflection of faith and church, it’s complex, complicated and messy at times, but it’s also very touching.

Overall, this is a truly stunning debut and a deeply personal book for this clearly exceptionally talented author.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Pan Macmillan/Picadour for the much appreciated early copy in return for an honest review.

Publishes in the UK on 19/2/26.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Rome 1953, a freshly ordained priest, David's love of God is all he's ever known.
In London, Margaret is determined to live life on her own terms, without sacrificing her own faith as she challenges what she considers the Church's archaic rules.
They are brought together at a Catholic college in England, where they both discover they have an undeniable attraction, resulting in a forbidden, secret passion.

This time lapse book gives the reader two points of view from the thoughts and feelings of its characters. It gently reveals the personal history of Adrian's grandparents as he uncovers hidden aspects of their lives.

On the one hand, the grandmother dazed and confused, living her life in a dementia filled bubble in a nursing home. On the other, the grandson, softly probing whilst he visits her, encourages her to remember and to talk about her life. Then, with a little nudge at his mother's memories, he begins to discover the truth about his grandparents' past.

Throughout his frequent visits, Adrian travels back in time within his grandmother's ramblings. Sometimes, she is lucid and clear. At others, she clams up as if she has said too much. When she asks him to bring her things from home, he finds documents hidden within her belongings and begins to decipher the truth of his grandparents' story.

The often touching way this story is presented is something remarkable, and the author has captured and shared the emotions perfectly.

At times, the book did feel a little overfilled with detail, which may have been intentional, but I found it a little distracting from the main points at times. But having said that, the subject of the story is interesting and enlightening. It gives the reader pause for thought and finally brings the conclusion of the story together.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really well done book by Stephanie Sy-Quia.

During the 1960's, David is a Catholic priest, sure of his calling to serve the church. He is posted to a parish in the English countryside, where he also teaches theology at an all girls school with a group of stern nuns. Margaret, newly graduated with a degree in theology (a rare qualification for a woman during this time), comes to the school to assume the position of theology teacher. The novel is the story of their budding romance, the difficulties they face because of David's position, and the secrets that they keep because of their history.

The prose in this book was lyrical. I found myself rereading passages because I was so taken with the language that I missed the meaning. It was beautiful. And I loved how well developed the characters of David and Margaret were.

While I loved the language, the second half of the book was a bit slow for me. It wasn't a long novel, but there were parts of it that lost my attention. There were also parts toward the end that I don't think added a lot of value to the story. The author is also a poet (hence the lyricism of the prose), and sections of the novel seemed to be more about the writing, rather than advancing the plot.

Overall, I'm so glad I read this book. 4 well-deserved ⭐s.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for an advanced copy of this novel. It's scheduled to be published on April 14, 2026.

[Steve Cavill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this novel (releasing in early 2026) is a fictionalized version of the author’s own grandparents, it feels incredibly personal. It’s a beautifully written, slow-burn story about a Catholic priest named David and a progressive teacher named Margaret who fall for each other in the 1950s. The book does a fantastic job of showing the tension between their religious devotion and their human desires, and I loved how it weaves in a modern-day storyline where their grandson uncovers the truth about their hidden past.

The writing is really the star here—you can tell the author is a poet because the descriptions of Rome and London are so vivid you can almost feel the atmosphere. It’s definitely a more "thoughtful" read than your average romance, focusing heavily on big questions about faith and the long-term secrets that families keep. My only real gripe is that it moves at a very deliberate pace, so you have to be in the mood for a story that takes its time rather than one full of quick twists. Overall, it’s a moving and deeply human look at a "forbidden" life that actually happened.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It tells a dual timeline story of the Catholic Church in the 1950s and 1960s and present day as a grandson looks after his ailing grandmother in her final days and discovers how she and her grandfather met and the sacrifices they both made for love. The writing is glorious and conjures up life as a trainee priest in the 1950s in Italy along with the austere rules regarding a single woman's place at that time and what was considered "acceptable" behaviour. That the priest was also gorgeous adds to the allure and you can easily see how Margaret (the grandmother) was captivated by him as he was by her. And yet... none of this was ever spoken of after he left the priesthood and that sacrifice for both of them (but perhaps more so for him with the church) overlays the whole of the rest of their lives. That the grandson only discovers this history at a time when his grandmother is drifting in and out of dementia makes it even more poignant in my view. Well worth a read. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Ryan Brandenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I didn’t anticipate enjoying this book as much as I did! David and Margret’s intricate love story is beautifully narrated, and the writing is perfection.

The first half of the book narrates the couple’s journey as they get to know each other, while the second half follows their life after marriage. The author’s writing truly brings the story to life, evoking a range of emotions within the reader.

However, I have a minor critique regarding the present-day storyline. I’m not entirely convinced that it was necessary and occasionally distracted me from the main narrative flow of the book.

Overall, I highly recommend this book if you enjoy a character-driven love story with an interesting storyline involving the history of the Catholic Church.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the privilege of reading this upcoming novel, which will be released on April 14, 2026.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a definite slow-burn, an atmospheric, yearning tale that’s based in some reality of the author’s grandparents - between a catholic priest and a laywoman.

It’s a forbidden love due to the life that David has signed up to, one of the church and celibacy - but Margaret comes along to challenge the times, the rules, and David himself.

The second half was much more engaging for me, seeing how David and Margaret navigated each other and the dynamic shift that happened between them.

There was a really lyrical atmosphere to the prose which made the slow burn feel like such a precious journey. The author’s way of showing the struggle between moral, faith, and love was so well captured.

[Sharyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book hard to get into and I felt quite lost at times. It picked up around a third of the way in and I started to settle into the story and the infrequent time changes. It's a very emotional story. Lots of interesting information about the Catholic Church's debates around sexuality, contraception etc in the early 1960s. I thought Margaret was an excellent character, a real feminist. It's a slow burn love story with plenty of angst. I did enjoy the author's writing style and the way she progressed the story through time in a concise manner. Recommended - but I think it could well have limited appeal once the reviews get out after publication.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up Catholic, so anything connected to the Church always catches my eye. The story of Margaret and David really pulled me in—it was emotional, complex, and full of depth. I found their journey fascinating and appreciated how the author explored faith, love, and moral struggle. That said, some sections felt a bit heavy with vocabulary, and I occasionally lost track of the timeline or details. Still, it was an engaging read overall, and I’m glad I stuck with it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Stephanie Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who grew up Catholic and went to a Catholic small college, I was immediately interested in this story. The relationship between Margaret and David is so complex. The story felt relatable and just HUMAN in many ways. It made me reflect on the Catholic church, and it's complexities and views around relationships, love, and just how many secrets are kept daily. I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend!

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just really lovely.
The family relationships throughout the generations.
It's truly Margaret's story though, I felt I knew her far better than anyone else.
It's touching, and gentle and moves slowly and carefully, but we all knew where it ends.
A little gem of a book I think.


Thanks to netgalley for the free digital copy.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this but it's worth persevering. It's the story of a forbidden love between a priest, David, and Margaret, a woman committed to challenging the archaic rules of the Church. Beautifully written with a dual timeline.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beste debuut van 2026? 🔥

#arc #netgalley

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written, quiet book about faith and forbidden love. It follows the relationship between Margaret, a theology teacher, and David, a Catholic priest, and how their relationship unfolds. We meet Margaret as an elderly grandmother whose story is unveiled whilst she is being cared for by her grandson. It is a tender story about love, sacrifice, and devotion based on the writer’s own family history. I highly recommend it.