What do you think?
Rate this book
Facing the Tank
A writer visits a quaint English Cathedral town and discovers its goings-on are stranger than fiction.
When Evan J. Kirby, an eminent American expert on heaven and hell, arrives in Barrowcester to do some research, he finds the community in a less than blissful state. There is the bishop sharing his doubts with the confirmation class while his mother feeds marijuana cookies to Evan’s landlady to unleash her psychic powers. Then there is Emma lurking in her father’s study waiting for love; Dawn sitting naked in a deckchair at midnight waiting for the Devil, and Madeleine seeking refuge from a cardinally inclined Cardinal. When Evan delves into the true origins of the local saint, a macabre and romantic sequence of events begins to unfold.
- GenresFiction
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 24, 1989
30 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Gale
43 books711 followersPatrick was born on 31 January 1962 on the Isle of Wight, where his father was prison governor at Camp Hill, as his grandfather had been at nearby Parkhurst. He was the youngest of four; one sister, two brothers, spread over ten years. The family moved to London, where his father ran Wandsworth Prison, then to Winchester. At eight Patrick began boarding as a Winchester College Quirister at the cathedral choir school, Pilgrim's. At thirteen he went on to Winchester College. He finished his formal education with an English degree from New College, Oxford in 1983.
He has never had a grown-up job. For three years he lived at a succession of addresses, from a Notting Hill bedsit to a crumbling French chateau. While working on his first novels he eked out his slender income with odd jobs; as a typist, a singing waiter, a designer's secretary, a ghost-writer for an encyclopedia of the musical and, increasingly, as a book reviewer.
His first two novels, The Aerodynamics of Pork and Ease were published by Abacus on the same day in June 1986. The following year he moved to Camelford near the north coast of Cornwall and began a love affair with the county that has fed his work ever since.
He now lives in the far west, on a farm near Land's End with his husband, Aidan Hicks. There they raise beef cattle and grow barley. Patrick is obsessed with the garden they have created in what must be one of England's windiest sites and deeply resents the time his writing makes him spend away from working in it. As well as gardening, he plays both the modern and baroque cello. His chief extravagance in life is opera tickets.
He has never had a grown-up job. For three years he lived at a succession of addresses, from a Notting Hill bedsit to a crumbling French chateau. While working on his first novels he eked out his slender income with odd jobs; as a typist, a singing waiter, a designer's secretary, a ghost-writer for an encyclopedia of the musical and, increasingly, as a book reviewer.
His first two novels, The Aerodynamics of Pork and Ease were published by Abacus on the same day in June 1986. The following year he moved to Camelford near the north coast of Cornwall and began a love affair with the county that has fed his work ever since.
He now lives in the far west, on a farm near Land's End with his husband, Aidan Hicks. There they raise beef cattle and grow barley. Patrick is obsessed with the garden they have created in what must be one of England's windiest sites and deeply resents the time his writing makes him spend away from working in it. As well as gardening, he plays both the modern and baroque cello. His chief extravagance in life is opera tickets.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 14, 2026
Gale Project #4
Updated review, 1/2026:
Although I THINK I understood a bit more of what was going on this time around (perhaps because I read it quicker, so facts stayed in my head better), I still was a mite overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters to keep straight - although Evan would, I suppose, be considered the main protagonist, there are at LEAST a dozen other major characters and probably two or three times as many minor ones.
The fact this is really a modern gloss on Trollope became more apparent this time around, and though I didn't find it 'hilarious' as the synopsis indicates, the humor did come more to the fore. There are still quite a number of things I remain unsure about, but I think that is probably intentional - there are several 'dream sequences', as well as a touch of magic realism or more likely mysticism, which I normally don't cotton to, but I more or less accepted it here and let the vagaries go.
Interesting that back 9 years ago I entertained the notion of perhaps reading ALL of Gale - and that IS precisely what I am currently embarked upon!
OG Review:
4.5 rounded down
My only previous experience of Gale's novels is his most recent, 'A Place Called Winter', which I really loved. This, Gale's 4th book from way back in 1988, couldn't have been more different, but I was almost equally enchanted. A modern gloss on Trollope (although Stella Gibson and E. F. Benson have also been invoked as possible influences), it is a fun and funny tale, with a multitude of eccentric characters inhabiting a quaint English town called Barrowcester (pronounced 'Brewster'). My major qualm is that there are perhaps TOO many characters, and I had a bit of difficulty keeping them straight all through the long haul.
Also, there were a LOT of issues that were so obliquely resolved that I am none too sure I QUITE 'got it': the entire sub-plot surrounding Dawn Harper trying to summon her 'missing' daughter Sasha with Satanic incantations; the white doves arising from the tomb of Saint Boniface and the possible angelic bones therein; what really happened to Evan's manuscript, etc. But I look forward to reading more, indeed, maybe all of Gale's back catalog, on the basis of the two I've now read.
PS: the odd title refers, not as I supposed, to a war machine, but to Mrs. Gibbons' erroneous supposition that she was incorrectly toilet trained, and that everyone but her uses a public lavatory 'facing the (water) tank', rather than the door. :-)
My sincere thanks to Netgalley and Open Road Media for the free reading copy in exchange for this honest review.
Updated review, 1/2026:
Although I THINK I understood a bit more of what was going on this time around (perhaps because I read it quicker, so facts stayed in my head better), I still was a mite overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters to keep straight - although Evan would, I suppose, be considered the main protagonist, there are at LEAST a dozen other major characters and probably two or three times as many minor ones.
The fact this is really a modern gloss on Trollope became more apparent this time around, and though I didn't find it 'hilarious' as the synopsis indicates, the humor did come more to the fore. There are still quite a number of things I remain unsure about, but I think that is probably intentional - there are several 'dream sequences', as well as a touch of magic realism or more likely mysticism, which I normally don't cotton to, but I more or less accepted it here and let the vagaries go.
Interesting that back 9 years ago I entertained the notion of perhaps reading ALL of Gale - and that IS precisely what I am currently embarked upon!
OG Review:
4.5 rounded down
My only previous experience of Gale's novels is his most recent, 'A Place Called Winter', which I really loved. This, Gale's 4th book from way back in 1988, couldn't have been more different, but I was almost equally enchanted. A modern gloss on Trollope (although Stella Gibson and E. F. Benson have also been invoked as possible influences), it is a fun and funny tale, with a multitude of eccentric characters inhabiting a quaint English town called Barrowcester (pronounced 'Brewster'). My major qualm is that there are perhaps TOO many characters, and I had a bit of difficulty keeping them straight all through the long haul.
Also, there were a LOT of issues that were so obliquely resolved that I am none too sure I QUITE 'got it': the entire sub-plot surrounding Dawn Harper trying to summon her 'missing' daughter Sasha with Satanic incantations; the white doves arising from the tomb of Saint Boniface and the possible angelic bones therein; what really happened to Evan's manuscript, etc. But I look forward to reading more, indeed, maybe all of Gale's back catalog, on the basis of the two I've now read.
PS: the odd title refers, not as I supposed, to a war machine, but to Mrs. Gibbons' erroneous supposition that she was incorrectly toilet trained, and that everyone but her uses a public lavatory 'facing the (water) tank', rather than the door. :-)
My sincere thanks to Netgalley and Open Road Media for the free reading copy in exchange for this honest review.
February 16, 2022
In the fictional English cathedral city of Barrowcester (pronounced 'Brewster'), American professor Evan Kirby arrives to conduct research into Heaven and Hell at the renowned libraries located at the cathedral and public school there. Staying in the home of Spanish-born Mercy Merluza, Evan eventually meets her daughter Madeleine - who is being pursued by journalists thanks to her affair with an elderly cardinal, by whom she is pregnant. There are several other intriguing and amusing characters in this dark yet funny novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed - 9/10.
July 1, 2017
Books like this one are...what do I want to say...an acquired taste? Yeah. I think that's a good way to put it. While I can't imagine that this novel will be for everyone, there were certain parts of it that were definitely appealing. I liked the oddball humor and the imperfections of the characters. If you like it when the story is unpredictable and the characters don't seem to fit in any particular stereotype, then this might just be the book you've been looking for.
The setting is great, offering all the typical British ideals and the descriptions make the story, in my opinion. Set in the 80's, this might not have the same believable quality that a more modern book would have, but I found that to be part of its charm. It's different, and sometimes that can be a good thing.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
The setting is great, offering all the typical British ideals and the descriptions make the story, in my opinion. Set in the 80's, this might not have the same believable quality that a more modern book would have, but I found that to be part of its charm. It's different, and sometimes that can be a good thing.
This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
October 26, 2018
Patrick Gale (or perhaps his greedy publisher?) hasn't done himself any favours by republishing this early novel (1988 I believe) as it’s a bizarre little tale which shows none of the considerable novelist’s skills evident in his later works. In this one he plays it all for laughs – only unfortunately it’s not very funny. A comedy of manners – without the comedy. An American academic, celebrated for a book about hell, is now researching one about heaven and has come to a traditional English cathedral town to do some research. There he meets with a cast of eccentric characters and has a few brushes with the supernatural. I found it all very tedious. The “sparky” dialogue, the silly sub-plots (although surely keeping an AIDS diagnosis secret can in no way be considered amusing), and the inevitable prejudices and conventions of clergy and small town life (Trollope without the wit, insight and empathy) all make for an unsatisfactory read, and I can’t help feeling it should have been allowed to fade into decent obscurity.
April 14, 2022
A number of interesting characters and description of townsfolk whose lives are dominated by the Anglican cathedral at its center. Gale pokes a lot of fun at narrow minded burghers. I kept confusing Fergus and Evan. Their bodies sounded alike.
I can’t understand the practical joke whereby Lilias’ mother had her face the door while on the toilet and how one could sit on it facing the tank.
Sasha is an opaque mystery to me. How could this alleged child of Dawn’s remain alive without shelter, food,etc.
This is nowhere as good as A Place Called Winter, Mother’s Boy, pictures from an exhibition and others.
I can’t understand the practical joke whereby Lilias’ mother had her face the door while on the toilet and how one could sit on it facing the tank.
Sasha is an opaque mystery to me. How could this alleged child of Dawn’s remain alive without shelter, food,etc.
This is nowhere as good as A Place Called Winter, Mother’s Boy, pictures from an exhibition and others.
August 3, 2024
Yes, I enjoyed this, especially as it was one of the author’s early books, which I haven’t liked so much before. A lot of characters, not all really needed e.g. Crispin the school boy and Emma the teacher.
On to the next.
On to the next.
December 22, 2012
Hmmm the writing is good but the plotting was somewhat disjointed. I also found all the characters hideous - which may have been his intention but can make a book feel like a battle to get through. The book has also dated quite badly - this is one of Patrick Gales early novels written sometime in the ate 80's I think and it shows both in the setting and actions of the characters.
February 20, 2021
Competent writing, interesting characters, BUT far too many subplots (or plot threads if you prefer), too diffuse and disunited. Might have made two, separate, good short novels—with no character overlap—or simply one much shorter and more unified piece. Certainly doesn’t make me eager to read another Gale.
November 17, 2015
This book had potential but it just didn't work. The book was unrealistic and there were too many pointless things going on at once.
August 31, 2019
Not his very best though some good moments.
Read
January 28, 2023I love Patrick Gale. I do. But I just couldn't deal with this one. I slogged through as much as I could bear of characters I didn't care about before admitting defeat.
December 19, 2020
'Facing the tank' is a witty and compulsive read. Its central character is Evan Kirby, an urbane American writer of scholarly but popular books on the supernatural. Evan decamps to Barrowcester (pronounced 'Brooster'), an English cathedral town, to consult its historic archives and complete his latest book.
The little town is home to a colourful cast. It includes a radical Bishop who would rather keep the supernatural under wraps, his mother (a medium), a gay interior designer, a naive young woman who has designs on him, a Spanish widow, her daughter who is pregnant by a Roman Catholic Cardinal, and the young Satanist who cleans their houses. There are many others - if you're the kind of reader who just has to flick back and check some minor detail, you'll find yourself doing a lot of flicking.
Each character has a story which of course ends up in Barrowcester. We share their darkest thoughts, and see them through each other's eyes as their lives interweave. The subtle joke is that our hero Evan, expert on the supernatural, hardly notices the strange things going on under his very nose.
It's trivial but fascinating, the atmosphere of provincial England enhanced by the absence of mobile phones (it was published in 1988). It's somehow delightful to find people sending letters and passing on messages.
I don't expect an author to tie up all the strands in a novel, but I was left with too many nagging questions about the various sub-plots. You will enjoy this book, but you may feel that the ending adds too little to make it a wholly satisfying read.
375 pages
The little town is home to a colourful cast. It includes a radical Bishop who would rather keep the supernatural under wraps, his mother (a medium), a gay interior designer, a naive young woman who has designs on him, a Spanish widow, her daughter who is pregnant by a Roman Catholic Cardinal, and the young Satanist who cleans their houses. There are many others - if you're the kind of reader who just has to flick back and check some minor detail, you'll find yourself doing a lot of flicking.
Each character has a story which of course ends up in Barrowcester. We share their darkest thoughts, and see them through each other's eyes as their lives interweave. The subtle joke is that our hero Evan, expert on the supernatural, hardly notices the strange things going on under his very nose.
It's trivial but fascinating, the atmosphere of provincial England enhanced by the absence of mobile phones (it was published in 1988). It's somehow delightful to find people sending letters and passing on messages.
I don't expect an author to tie up all the strands in a novel, but I was left with too many nagging questions about the various sub-plots. You will enjoy this book, but you may feel that the ending adds too little to make it a wholly satisfying read.
375 pages
October 5, 2024
I have read several books by this author and would have named him as amongst my most admired modern British writers. But something about this book was off, for me. The meandering storyline brought in various characters from an imaginary (but, I suspect, very real) cathedral town. Each character had his or her own resolution, but in so bizarre a way, involving supernatural (?) revelations both Anglican and satanic.
I didn’t warm to any of the characters except perhaps the rather lovely spinster teacher, whose name I have forgotten, which only shows what a superficial impact she made.
I struggle to fathom the title of the book, which refers to the part of the loo where the water is stored. Surely cistern, not tank?
If I had to précis it I’d say that the connecting theme (tenuous) is that people persist in believing they’re doing it all wrong, whereas in fact they have it exactly right. But I’d struggle to apply that convincingly.
Maybe I missed the point?
A Place Called Winter and Notes From an Exhibition are truly wonderful books. If you’re wondering about trying a Patrick Gayle, I’d definitely go there first.
I didn’t warm to any of the characters except perhaps the rather lovely spinster teacher, whose name I have forgotten, which only shows what a superficial impact she made.
I struggle to fathom the title of the book, which refers to the part of the loo where the water is stored. Surely cistern, not tank?
If I had to précis it I’d say that the connecting theme (tenuous) is that people persist in believing they’re doing it all wrong, whereas in fact they have it exactly right. But I’d struggle to apply that convincingly.
Maybe I missed the point?
A Place Called Winter and Notes From an Exhibition are truly wonderful books. If you’re wondering about trying a Patrick Gayle, I’d definitely go there first.
October 8, 2021
Well this was a fine little read. Patrick Gale is probably in my top 3 or so active authors around and his early work has a more whimsical less deep heartfelt feel than more recent works - still involving and moving.
I must confess I slightly lost track of one of the plot threads in here, set in the fictional English cathedral city of Barrowcester (pronounced Brewster obviously) the novel involves multiple strands of the lives of several characters so you can if not careful lose track of just quite who's who.
All in all then, funny, clever and promising, if not the fully formed whole cigar, then definitely glimpses of the shape of literary triumphs to come.
I must confess I slightly lost track of one of the plot threads in here, set in the fictional English cathedral city of Barrowcester (pronounced Brewster obviously) the novel involves multiple strands of the lives of several characters so you can if not careful lose track of just quite who's who.
All in all then, funny, clever and promising, if not the fully formed whole cigar, then definitely glimpses of the shape of literary triumphs to come.
January 24, 2024
I am not quite sure what to make of this one....there was a large cast of unlikely characters and I confess that I got a bit muddled up with the different threads of the various story lines, so some of it probably passed me by. Having said that, I think that it was intriguing and I would have liked to know more about the different events. I think it should have been funny, but some of it was rather unsettling .....
January 31, 2021
My first Patrick Gale book...
....and won’t be my last. The quietly understated humor was beautifully done with me frequently re-reading a line just to make sure I’d read it right or simply for the joy of it. A quieter, more restrained Tom Sharpe and all the better for it. Now what’s next?
....and won’t be my last. The quietly understated humor was beautifully done with me frequently re-reading a line just to make sure I’d read it right or simply for the joy of it. A quieter, more restrained Tom Sharpe and all the better for it. Now what’s next?
June 19, 2025
A wonderful romp. Though written in 1988 this is still very fresh and conjures up a certain sense of Englishness. It feels like Trollope updated and how a slightly supernatural Archers might sound. A lot of fun and if not every loose end was tied, the slightly surreal aspect meant that really didn’t matter.
February 2, 2023
I was looking forward to reading the book after seeing Rick Stein interview author and I love a novel set in English village but I couldn't finish it. Too many poorly defined characters. I couldn't get them in my head, so I gave up.
January 21, 2025
This is a brilliantly observed story, dark, humorous, sometimes subtly, sometimes uproarious, and it wasn't till right near the end I understood the title. It's a splendid study of the characters in a small cathedral city in the UK. I adored it.
August 27, 2017
Unfortunately, could not get into it and have left it unfinished.
September 1, 2017
It was like a good soap opera - so many people, so many pages, not much happening., minimal closure.
April 10, 2019
Cake, choirs, interior design and witchcraft.... what's not to like.
December 6, 2021
Well written and witty, but I did find the appearances of St Boniface quite disconcerting and unbelievable. I'm not sure what the overall point was.
May 15, 2017
I was confused by the title of Facing the Tank, Patrick Gale’s novel of 1980’s life in beautiful Barrowcester (pronounced Brewster), a provincial cathedral town that is sadly fictional. It is one of those towns that populate British fiction where social mores are skewered with equal parts humor and compassion. The authors pen is sharp and sometimes wicked, but they cannot help loving their imperfect people.
Like most of its kind, Facing the Tank is full of characters who are going about their multiple story lines, crossing over here and there, connecting and socializing and commenting on each other, but often completely unaware of each other’s reality, despite the frequent gossiping. We start with the out of town visitor, Evan. He’s an American expert on angels and demons and his presence gave me the completely wrong impression at first, I was beginning to expect some sort of horror story. Thankfully, the humorous cast of Gale’s descriptions cleared that up quickly.
He stays with Mercedes, a Spanish landlady, a woman of mystery even to herself as she has had amnesia for nearly 30 years. Her daughter is pregnant by a Roman Catholic Cardinal and the papers are camping on the front steps. There’s Gavin, the local bishop whose shocked society with a fiery extemporaneous sermon discovering angel wings in the tomb of the local cathedral’s saint while his mother is having seances. There’s a Satinist housekeeper whose looking for the perfect incantation to find her lost daughter. There’s the hilarious Lydia and Clive, ostensibly open-minded and liberal until their gay son decides to marry a black woman. More seriously, he lies to his fiancée about his AIDS test imagining her as the first woman to test positive for AIDS and being greeted by cheers. The gay interior designer’s partner recently died of cancer, not AIDS, but he tells his lover’s family it was AIDS, angered by their not-so-subtly homophobic dismissal of him. Meanwhile Lydia is matchmaking him with a local young woman and his mother is losing her mind to senility.
So much is happening, some of it quite awful and some of it very funny, for example, a thirteen year old student imagines he may have impregnated the family dog because she happened to come in the room and lick him while he was masturbating. Lydia and Clive’s wedding preparations are everything racist condescension could create, with all the recipes taken from a book on Caribbean cooking to dressing down because they cannot imagine wealthy black people and desperately not wanting to make the bride’s parents feel poor.
Facing the Tank is the first book by Patrick Gale I have read, which is good news because that means I can expect to read several more good books in the future. From looking at his bibliography, several are in Barrowcester. I am glad, I want to know what happens to some of these folks after the book. This is not a book that winds up every single storyline, though I will assure you that Crispin’s Lottie did not have puppies with human faces.
While Facing the Tank does a great job of satirizing the foibles and prejudices of the comfortably off, this is not a story firmly rooted in reality and I don’t just mean the seances.The reason for the title is a bit ridiculous, but explaining it would be a spoiler, I think, so I will just say, undertakers can remove things from people’s hands after death. They will just break the bones if necessary. They won’t make a bigger coffin. I also think having a character keep an AIDS diagnosis secret is too problematic to let it just lie there unquestioned.
There is this odd mix of humor and harrowing what with scary things in the river under the cathedral and the Satanist’s pregnancy and loss of her daughter. This is more than a comedy of manners and sometimes the mix is just right and sometimes it’s a bit off.
I think the “if you liked that, then you will like this” algorithms work better for music than books. I am more often led astray by the assurance that liking one book makes my enjoyment of another nearly a certainty, nonetheless when a marketing coordinator reached out to me via email suggesting I might like Facing the Tank because I liked The Sea Change, I thought why not? I am glad I did. I really enjoyed this book and want to read more.
I was provided a promotional copy of Facing the Tank by the publisher through NetGalley
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
Like most of its kind, Facing the Tank is full of characters who are going about their multiple story lines, crossing over here and there, connecting and socializing and commenting on each other, but often completely unaware of each other’s reality, despite the frequent gossiping. We start with the out of town visitor, Evan. He’s an American expert on angels and demons and his presence gave me the completely wrong impression at first, I was beginning to expect some sort of horror story. Thankfully, the humorous cast of Gale’s descriptions cleared that up quickly.
He stays with Mercedes, a Spanish landlady, a woman of mystery even to herself as she has had amnesia for nearly 30 years. Her daughter is pregnant by a Roman Catholic Cardinal and the papers are camping on the front steps. There’s Gavin, the local bishop whose shocked society with a fiery extemporaneous sermon discovering angel wings in the tomb of the local cathedral’s saint while his mother is having seances. There’s a Satinist housekeeper whose looking for the perfect incantation to find her lost daughter. There’s the hilarious Lydia and Clive, ostensibly open-minded and liberal until their gay son decides to marry a black woman. More seriously, he lies to his fiancée about his AIDS test imagining her as the first woman to test positive for AIDS and being greeted by cheers. The gay interior designer’s partner recently died of cancer, not AIDS, but he tells his lover’s family it was AIDS, angered by their not-so-subtly homophobic dismissal of him. Meanwhile Lydia is matchmaking him with a local young woman and his mother is losing her mind to senility.
So much is happening, some of it quite awful and some of it very funny, for example, a thirteen year old student imagines he may have impregnated the family dog because she happened to come in the room and lick him while he was masturbating. Lydia and Clive’s wedding preparations are everything racist condescension could create, with all the recipes taken from a book on Caribbean cooking to dressing down because they cannot imagine wealthy black people and desperately not wanting to make the bride’s parents feel poor.
Facing the Tank is the first book by Patrick Gale I have read, which is good news because that means I can expect to read several more good books in the future. From looking at his bibliography, several are in Barrowcester. I am glad, I want to know what happens to some of these folks after the book. This is not a book that winds up every single storyline, though I will assure you that Crispin’s Lottie did not have puppies with human faces.
While Facing the Tank does a great job of satirizing the foibles and prejudices of the comfortably off, this is not a story firmly rooted in reality and I don’t just mean the seances.The reason for the title is a bit ridiculous, but explaining it would be a spoiler, I think, so I will just say, undertakers can remove things from people’s hands after death. They will just break the bones if necessary. They won’t make a bigger coffin. I also think having a character keep an AIDS diagnosis secret is too problematic to let it just lie there unquestioned.
There is this odd mix of humor and harrowing what with scary things in the river under the cathedral and the Satanist’s pregnancy and loss of her daughter. This is more than a comedy of manners and sometimes the mix is just right and sometimes it’s a bit off.
I think the “if you liked that, then you will like this” algorithms work better for music than books. I am more often led astray by the assurance that liking one book makes my enjoyment of another nearly a certainty, nonetheless when a marketing coordinator reached out to me via email suggesting I might like Facing the Tank because I liked The Sea Change, I thought why not? I am glad I did. I really enjoyed this book and want to read more.
I was provided a promotional copy of Facing the Tank by the publisher through NetGalley
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
March 14, 2024
The writing, as ever, vivid observations of places and people, was wonderful, but, for me. the reading of the tale felt more akin to reading a beautifully-drawn comic; i.e. too clunkily, too hastily and confusingly told, and somewhat dated too.
July 21, 2013
This was a rather interesting read...following a group of people staying or living in Barrowcester. It took some very interesting turns, included some extremely interesting characters and the settings involved had my imagination going!
June 24, 2015
I liked the modern Trollope bits but lost interest in the more Satanic aspects which didn't seem to fit with the other.
April 5, 2017
3.5 stars.
Barrowcester (pronunced 'Brewster') is an English cathedral town, the kind of quaint place which pulls in foreign tourists by the coachload to admire its historic buildings and makes a comfortable living through the sale of cream teas and fudge. Yet to live there is to negotiate a whole skein of unspoken rules and obligations, as the American academic Evan Green discovers when he arrives to research his latest book. Evan specialises in the history of ideas and, following on from his successful first book on the history of hell, he has inevitably moved on to exploring heaven in the sequel. His personal life, however, is very far from heaven. Released from an unsatisfying marriage by divorce, he finds himself floundering in the unaccustomed state of freedom and has come to Barrowcester as a way to escape the trials of the world, and make progress on his manuscript.
What was I expecting from this book? I'm not quite sure, but it wasn't this: a profoundly quirky exploration of purpose, love and belonging in a small country town, where normal life is thrown into disarray by something which might just be a miracle...
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/04/05/f...
Barrowcester (pronunced 'Brewster') is an English cathedral town, the kind of quaint place which pulls in foreign tourists by the coachload to admire its historic buildings and makes a comfortable living through the sale of cream teas and fudge. Yet to live there is to negotiate a whole skein of unspoken rules and obligations, as the American academic Evan Green discovers when he arrives to research his latest book. Evan specialises in the history of ideas and, following on from his successful first book on the history of hell, he has inevitably moved on to exploring heaven in the sequel. His personal life, however, is very far from heaven. Released from an unsatisfying marriage by divorce, he finds himself floundering in the unaccustomed state of freedom and has come to Barrowcester as a way to escape the trials of the world, and make progress on his manuscript.
What was I expecting from this book? I'm not quite sure, but it wasn't this: a profoundly quirky exploration of purpose, love and belonging in a small country town, where normal life is thrown into disarray by something which might just be a miracle...
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/04/05/f...
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews