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Lindchester #1
Acts and Omissions: Lindchester Chronicles 1
The Bishop of Lindchester is happily married with four daughters. But does he have a secret? Archdeacon Matt is inclined to think not. That said, it's obvious to him that Bishop Paul's got a pretty big bee in his mitre about the brilliant but troubled Freddie May . . . Welcome to the fictional Diocese of Lindchester, where you will be taken (dear reader) on a yearlong romp in the company of bishops, priests and lay people. Prepare yourself for a bumpy and hilarious ride from the rarefied heights of the Cathedral Close down to the coalface of ordinary urban and rural parishes. Acts and Omissions reveals the Church of England in all its mess and glory. It is a world shot through with grace, but one where even the best intentioned err and stray. And occasionally do those things which they ought not to have done . . .
328 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2014
49 people are currently reading
389 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Fox
14 books68 followersCatherine Fox was educated at Durham and London Universities and has a degree in English and a PhD in Theology. She is the author of Angels and Men, The Benefits of Passion and Love for the Lost, which explore the themes of the spiritual and the physical with insight and humour. In 2007, Yellow Jersey Press published Fight the Good Fight: From Vicar's Wife to Killing Machine in which Catherine relates her quest to achieve a black belt in Judo. More recently she published a YA fantasy novel, Wolf Tide, before starting work on her three volume Lindchester Chronicles. She teaches at Manchester Metropolitan University and lives in Sheffield. She is currently blogging a new novel in weekly instalments. It starts here: https://lindfordtales.blogspot.com/20...
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December 16, 2015This book just walked across my grave.
So, I have a fictional weakness that I don’t usually talk about. Given the secularity of my life, it tends to bewilder people to an extent that it becomes socially awkward. And then I get defensive and high-pitched and start waving my hands about. And it’s all bad.
But, I, uh ... I comfort read ... God, I don’t know what the genre is. I guess cassock rippers? Sex and scandal in the CoE. I can’t really explain why or how but books about church politics really delight me. I guess it’s partially prurience but also the fact they’re marvellous entertaining. I think this love was nurtured in me at an impressionable age by Anthony Trollope’s Barchester books. Which are, y’know, legit hilarious.
The problem is, that the market for, uh, whatever this weird genre is has always been ... shall we say ... niche? I mean, it’s Christians who don’t mind sex and sodomy. Or atheists and sodomites who don’t mind Christianity. As Venn diagrams go, that’s a very narrow sliver of the population. But, hey, thanks to e-books, suddenly it doesn’t matter and I have access to all this stuff again.
I recently re-discovered this author from my very distant past – relieved and thrilled to learn that, after a long hiatus, she is writing again. Acts and Omissions is basically and self-consciously like a 21st century Barchester. It’s set in a fictional diocese, has a cast of slightly-too-many, and the story is teasingly unfolded by an arch but ultimately benign omniscient narrator. It’s actually so Barchestrian that it took me a while to settle (that tone can be pretty grating when you’re not a Victorian novelist who doesn’t know any better) but once I got used to everyone and salacious things started happening (yes, I’m a bad person), I bounced joyously through the final 40%. Also for the record, I’m over-stating the salacious things because I’m self-conscious – what I like about this author is that she deals with human experience broadly. I think faith and love and sex and selfishness and selflessness and truth and delusion and cruelty belong on the same canvas. Sexuality and spirituality are not polar opposites. The interact and intertwine – for better or for worse, or a little bit both.
The moment, however, when the book walked across my grave was a passing mention of ... a character from the previous series. The fact is, ACTS AND OMISSIONS is a very different sort of book from the books that precede it. I think they came out originally in the late 90s? And I was about 14 or 15 by the time I stumbled across them in the library (or, at least, the two that were available, I found the third some years later) and devoured them. I haven’t dared re-read them because, even memory-faded, I can tell they’re ... kind of ... of their time? I mean, I guess nowadays with the university setting and the themes of identity and self-discovery they’d practically be NA?
But, anyway, the reason I sort of latched onto them as intensely as I did is because, as well being engaging in other ways, they had A Gay in them. And, again, looking back, I can see he was ... a stereotype. Promiscuous and waspish and tormented. And sort of fabulous not in a massively camp way but simply because he’s always viewed from the perspective of the (straight female) heroine: so he’s beautiful and unobtainable, and, of course secretly wounded. Because gay! Because faith! And stuff.
But the thing is, back in the late 90s ... it didn’t matter that he was what I now perceive to be a stereotype. All that mattered was that he was gay and neither a villain nor a joke. There was so little representation then. At least in the armpit of north east England. So this character—Andrew Jacks, by the way, obviously—was incredibly important to me. It’s embarrassing to admit but, like Laurie from The Charioteer, he sort of shaped my sense of self. I’m not really like him, at least I hope not, but it did ... give me a focus for being clever and sharp and a little bit mean. Probably the reason I have the academic background I do is because Andrew Jacks made being a cold, secretly vulnerable, ruthlessly over-educated queer seem not only possible but hella cool. Acceptable in contexts both secular and divine. Even for a confused northern boy with no clue about anything.
So meeting him again, nearly twenty years later was a bit of a shock to the system. A little bit like finding an old photograph of yourself wearing whatever was fashionable at the time it was taken. However, I’m pleased to report that this fictional character is doing well and seems happy. And as vicious and up-himself as ever. And still, in some peculiar, faintly irritating way, articulating things that I am not comfortable enough to articulate for myself:
PS - I'm aware this isn't a very helpful review but, hey, it's GR, not the New York Times. Um, if you object to neither swearing, sodomy religion, nor Trollope, then this is quite fun? It's witty and charming and humane. The plotting leaves a bit to be desired, since it takes a while to get going and things get randomly dropped and picked up like me trying to knit a sock. It goes to some difficult places and handles what could be quite a cliched arc (the 58-year old anti-gay-marriage Bishop's interactions with the fragile, messed up choirslut, Freddie May) with gentleness and unexpected grace. Also there's an understated romance between a large, bald Archdeacon and a middle-aged, sharp-tongued academic.
So, I have a fictional weakness that I don’t usually talk about. Given the secularity of my life, it tends to bewilder people to an extent that it becomes socially awkward. And then I get defensive and high-pitched and start waving my hands about. And it’s all bad.
But, I, uh ... I comfort read ... God, I don’t know what the genre is. I guess cassock rippers? Sex and scandal in the CoE. I can’t really explain why or how but books about church politics really delight me. I guess it’s partially prurience but also the fact they’re marvellous entertaining. I think this love was nurtured in me at an impressionable age by Anthony Trollope’s Barchester books. Which are, y’know, legit hilarious.
The problem is, that the market for, uh, whatever this weird genre is has always been ... shall we say ... niche? I mean, it’s Christians who don’t mind sex and sodomy. Or atheists and sodomites who don’t mind Christianity. As Venn diagrams go, that’s a very narrow sliver of the population. But, hey, thanks to e-books, suddenly it doesn’t matter and I have access to all this stuff again.
I recently re-discovered this author from my very distant past – relieved and thrilled to learn that, after a long hiatus, she is writing again. Acts and Omissions is basically and self-consciously like a 21st century Barchester. It’s set in a fictional diocese, has a cast of slightly-too-many, and the story is teasingly unfolded by an arch but ultimately benign omniscient narrator. It’s actually so Barchestrian that it took me a while to settle (that tone can be pretty grating when you’re not a Victorian novelist who doesn’t know any better) but once I got used to everyone and salacious things started happening (yes, I’m a bad person), I bounced joyously through the final 40%. Also for the record, I’m over-stating the salacious things because I’m self-conscious – what I like about this author is that she deals with human experience broadly. I think faith and love and sex and selfishness and selflessness and truth and delusion and cruelty belong on the same canvas. Sexuality and spirituality are not polar opposites. The interact and intertwine – for better or for worse, or a little bit both.
The moment, however, when the book walked across my grave was a passing mention of ... a character from the previous series. The fact is, ACTS AND OMISSIONS is a very different sort of book from the books that precede it. I think they came out originally in the late 90s? And I was about 14 or 15 by the time I stumbled across them in the library (or, at least, the two that were available, I found the third some years later) and devoured them. I haven’t dared re-read them because, even memory-faded, I can tell they’re ... kind of ... of their time? I mean, I guess nowadays with the university setting and the themes of identity and self-discovery they’d practically be NA?
But, anyway, the reason I sort of latched onto them as intensely as I did is because, as well being engaging in other ways, they had A Gay in them. And, again, looking back, I can see he was ... a stereotype. Promiscuous and waspish and tormented. And sort of fabulous not in a massively camp way but simply because he’s always viewed from the perspective of the (straight female) heroine: so he’s beautiful and unobtainable, and, of course secretly wounded. Because gay! Because faith! And stuff.
But the thing is, back in the late 90s ... it didn’t matter that he was what I now perceive to be a stereotype. All that mattered was that he was gay and neither a villain nor a joke. There was so little representation then. At least in the armpit of north east England. So this character—Andrew Jacks, by the way, obviously—was incredibly important to me. It’s embarrassing to admit but, like Laurie from The Charioteer, he sort of shaped my sense of self. I’m not really like him, at least I hope not, but it did ... give me a focus for being clever and sharp and a little bit mean. Probably the reason I have the academic background I do is because Andrew Jacks made being a cold, secretly vulnerable, ruthlessly over-educated queer seem not only possible but hella cool. Acceptable in contexts both secular and divine. Even for a confused northern boy with no clue about anything.
So meeting him again, nearly twenty years later was a bit of a shock to the system. A little bit like finding an old photograph of yourself wearing whatever was fashionable at the time it was taken. However, I’m pleased to report that this fictional character is doing well and seems happy. And as vicious and up-himself as ever. And still, in some peculiar, faintly irritating way, articulating things that I am not comfortable enough to articulate for myself:
His chilly stare is locked onto the Annunciation above the altar. He’s troubled by the light in it. The way it evokes that sense of the Other breaking in. As he stares he feels a presence draw alongside; some Being far beyond even his monstrous capacity to control, intimidate, destroy. So it’s back again, is it? This stubborn love that just will not give up on him; this rock he cannot believe in, yet which he must always return to and shipwreck himself on and be saved. The divine No, which is also the Yes.
PS - I'm aware this isn't a very helpful review but, hey, it's GR, not the New York Times. Um, if you object to neither swearing, sodomy religion, nor Trollope, then this is quite fun? It's witty and charming and humane. The plotting leaves a bit to be desired, since it takes a while to get going and things get randomly dropped and picked up like me trying to knit a sock. It goes to some difficult places and handles what could be quite a cliched arc (the 58-year old anti-gay-marriage Bishop's interactions with the fragile, messed up choirslut, Freddie May) with gentleness and unexpected grace. Also there's an understated romance between a large, bald Archdeacon and a middle-aged, sharp-tongued academic.
May 3, 2015
This divides its reviewers; while I dislike it as a whole, I can see that it has it strengths.
In many ways it is to be applauded. The author uses her perspective as a clergy wife to write a narrative that is full of little details, references and in-jokes that Anglicans will appreciate. It is good to read fiction that has an accurate knowledge of the Church. She knows how to plot and is adept at leading the reader to fear the worst, and then pull back from the obvious. It is of course remarkable that the archdeacon is both good at his job and seems to be the most genuine character - so unlike other fictional archdeacon's. In amongst the high drama characters there are lovely portraits of clergy carrying on with their ministry, even with their own sorrows and fears.
However there are some major flaws in this book. First is the narrative voice, as many comment. Fox maintains a conceit that puts her at the command of a helicopter swooping in and out of the characters' world. This is overdone. More generally her tone drifts into a Miranda Hart style which is cloying.
Secondly the language in this book is appalling. I realise that this may be a matter of taste. But I believed that the frequent use of four letter words (and more generally smutty language) was way beyond what was needed to tell the story.
Thirdly the central focus of the book is about the breakdown of 'traditional marriage' and the hypocrisy of the church pretending otherwise. It is true that there is little in the book that has not been first been enacted in reality. But still for all this to be gathered into one cathedral close? And so the quieter moral choices of the celibate single gay priest or the chaste Archdeacon are drowned out by the more fevered storylines.
If this book ever were to be made into a TV series I can see my first two points being dealt with immediately. I would fear however that the more insightful portrayal of the quieter characters would be cut to make more space for the high camp and sexually louche.
So, no I could not recommend this book to anyone. It may have a slight value in gathering into one close some of the worst behaviour of Anglican priests (and some of the best) so that all parties might seem themselves and be ashamed. But for anyone else surely it would just leave you feeling rather soiled?
In many ways it is to be applauded. The author uses her perspective as a clergy wife to write a narrative that is full of little details, references and in-jokes that Anglicans will appreciate. It is good to read fiction that has an accurate knowledge of the Church. She knows how to plot and is adept at leading the reader to fear the worst, and then pull back from the obvious. It is of course remarkable that the archdeacon is both good at his job and seems to be the most genuine character - so unlike other fictional archdeacon's. In amongst the high drama characters there are lovely portraits of clergy carrying on with their ministry, even with their own sorrows and fears.
However there are some major flaws in this book. First is the narrative voice, as many comment. Fox maintains a conceit that puts her at the command of a helicopter swooping in and out of the characters' world. This is overdone. More generally her tone drifts into a Miranda Hart style which is cloying.
Secondly the language in this book is appalling. I realise that this may be a matter of taste. But I believed that the frequent use of four letter words (and more generally smutty language) was way beyond what was needed to tell the story.
Thirdly the central focus of the book is about the breakdown of 'traditional marriage' and the hypocrisy of the church pretending otherwise. It is true that there is little in the book that has not been first been enacted in reality. But still for all this to be gathered into one cathedral close? And so the quieter moral choices of the celibate single gay priest or the chaste Archdeacon are drowned out by the more fevered storylines.
If this book ever were to be made into a TV series I can see my first two points being dealt with immediately. I would fear however that the more insightful portrayal of the quieter characters would be cut to make more space for the high camp and sexually louche.
So, no I could not recommend this book to anyone. It may have a slight value in gathering into one close some of the worst behaviour of Anglican priests (and some of the best) so that all parties might seem themselves and be ashamed. But for anyone else surely it would just leave you feeling rather soiled?
July 22, 2017
High comedy and low tragedy - not to speak of low comedy and high tragedy as well as humour, irony, deliciously naughty happenings and characters who you will love to bits fill this book to bursting point. If 'Acts and Omissions' were a bar of chocolate it would be the most delicious bar of chocolate you have ever tasted in your life - and one you would want to taste again and again and again. Don't be put off by the fact that it is set in a cathedral close somewhere in England and features clerical characters of all ranks up to and including bishops as it is very far from being staid and boring or prudish or mealy mouthed.
You don't even have to be a member of the Church of England to appreciate its humour though I think it adds an extra layer of meaning if you are. If you want something politically correct then this isn't for you but if you want something to laugh over and cry over and a book you will remember long after you have finished reading it then this just might be for you.
The book is narrated by an omniscient presence who takes you on a guided tour of the houses of the clergy in the fictional diocese of Lindchester as well as those belonging to a few lay people. It drops in at critical points in their lives and eavesdrops on their conversations offering at the same time an amusing or sympathetic and often critical commentary on the events. I loved the characters - Bishop Paul and his wife Suzanna (Mary Poppins and Pollyanna to the cynics), gorgeous Freddie May - a waif and stray currently lodging with the bishop; the Archdeacon - shaven headed and prone to splutter his coffee over his iPad during meetings because he's reading something he shouldn't be reading; Jane - ex trainee priest and now history lecturer who is friends with Father Dominic; then there's 'Father' Wendy - beloved by her flock who is about to take on a new curate.
If you've read Catherine Fox's other novels then you may find this one a bit a of a shock to the system but if you have read her non-fiction about the people and occasions in the Church of England then you will recognise her particular brand of humour. This is a novel with a difference and I don't recall ever reading anything like it before and I'm really pleased there is a sequel - I can't wait!
You don't even have to be a member of the Church of England to appreciate its humour though I think it adds an extra layer of meaning if you are. If you want something politically correct then this isn't for you but if you want something to laugh over and cry over and a book you will remember long after you have finished reading it then this just might be for you.
The book is narrated by an omniscient presence who takes you on a guided tour of the houses of the clergy in the fictional diocese of Lindchester as well as those belonging to a few lay people. It drops in at critical points in their lives and eavesdrops on their conversations offering at the same time an amusing or sympathetic and often critical commentary on the events. I loved the characters - Bishop Paul and his wife Suzanna (Mary Poppins and Pollyanna to the cynics), gorgeous Freddie May - a waif and stray currently lodging with the bishop; the Archdeacon - shaven headed and prone to splutter his coffee over his iPad during meetings because he's reading something he shouldn't be reading; Jane - ex trainee priest and now history lecturer who is friends with Father Dominic; then there's 'Father' Wendy - beloved by her flock who is about to take on a new curate.
If you've read Catherine Fox's other novels then you may find this one a bit a of a shock to the system but if you have read her non-fiction about the people and occasions in the Church of England then you will recognise her particular brand of humour. This is a novel with a difference and I don't recall ever reading anything like it before and I'm really pleased there is a sequel - I can't wait!
March 26, 2025
This is the start of a five book series about the doings of a bunch of assorted ecclesiastical types in the fictional Diocese of Lindfordshire, and its Cathedral in the town of Lindford. Think Barsetshire, but with a Church that's at once wrestling with questions about homosexually and struggling to remain meaningful in a time when congregations are aging and dwindling. The novels are a bit unusual, as the author blogged them in real time, each one covering a year, so there tends to be a meandering quality to the plot, and lots of musing about then current events, which can be odd to read about in such detail long after the fact.
I loved the series, and especially the first one, in great part because as an Episcopalian who's very active in my church, so much of the "full frontal Anglicanism" was familiar and homey, and also a lot of it was hilarious. My mother read the books first, and was taken aback that some of the priests have potty mouths (although in fairness, it's more often their partners and friends who get sweary). She also loved that there's a priest who goes by "Father Wendy" because her stodgy and mostly elderly congregation couldn't bring themselves to call her "Mother."
As the series goes on it gradually becomes less churchy, which I guess is good or bad depending on your point of view. It fell off for me, and the fact that the last two books take place in 2020 and 2021 respectively also made the books a lot less fun -- not many of us want to relive those years.
A note for anyone who intends to read through the series and has all five books to hand: when you finish book 3, go to the end of book 5 and read the three short stories tucked in at the end, as they take place between books 3 and 4, and introduce characters who appear in book 4.
I loved the series, and especially the first one, in great part because as an Episcopalian who's very active in my church, so much of the "full frontal Anglicanism" was familiar and homey, and also a lot of it was hilarious. My mother read the books first, and was taken aback that some of the priests have potty mouths (although in fairness, it's more often their partners and friends who get sweary). She also loved that there's a priest who goes by "Father Wendy" because her stodgy and mostly elderly congregation couldn't bring themselves to call her "Mother."
As the series goes on it gradually becomes less churchy, which I guess is good or bad depending on your point of view. It fell off for me, and the fact that the last two books take place in 2020 and 2021 respectively also made the books a lot less fun -- not many of us want to relive those years.
A note for anyone who intends to read through the series and has all five books to hand: when you finish book 3, go to the end of book 5 and read the three short stories tucked in at the end, as they take place between books 3 and 4, and introduce characters who appear in book 4.
April 16, 2018
Absolutely loved it. As a C of E Reader who works in a University I could identify with each and every character, place and many of the situations. I recognised all the references to other bits of literature too, from the Bible to Molesworth, and felt as if I were at home. I quickly had to buy the rest of the trilogy and currently am skulking away in corners to finish the last so I can find what happens to everyone.
January 3, 2015
Couldn't finish... Narrating style too irritating.
January 15, 2015
I really tried to keep going but gave up before halfway. I failed to care about any of the characters and felt patronised by the controlling narrator.
April 10, 2017
Surprised at how polarised opinions seem to be among reviewers, clearly not for everyone but I liked it. It first appeared in weekly instalments online as an experiment in Victorian-style serial publishing, with Trollope's Barchester not far away and a narrator's voice which consciously owes something to the same tradition. Funny, occasional perceptive comments about current affairs, and sometimes very sad. Guessing it is quite hard to please the sort of Anglicans who might be shocked at the language and some of the goings-on, AND the people who are comfortable with those things but completely turned off by religion, Christianity, and the Church of England in particular. This is really a slice of life/soap opera over a year (2013), features a lot of characters and does work very much like a Victorian novel. We are no longer used to the intrusive authorial voice and the apparently large numbers of people but I think it's an interesting experiment and I think it works. I do prefer it as a book read in one go rather than in instalments though (too easy to lose track of who is doing what week by week, although serial publication allows for more suspense). This is the first of a trilogy (with a couple of characters from earlier novels reappearing).
February 9, 2016
On the other end of the spectrum of ecclesiastical literature from the delightful Barchester Towers, I found myself deeply disappointed in this offering from Catherine Fox. I pulled the ripcord at Page 12. Though you may feel that twelve pages doesn't give me any right to review, I will say that before I gave up I thumbed through the book for many, many pages to confirm my dread - yep, still terrible. To the very end.
It wasn't the profanity, however heavily applied it was (and it was) - is it somehow a mark of enlightenment to have f-bombs flying all over a page, multiple times in a paragraph? Is it supposed to make the clergy look cool, "hip", "with it"? It doesn't - I wasn't impressed. But I could have lived with that.
It wasn't the characters. In fact, the tragedy of the novel is that the characters were interesting from the start, but I wasn't willing to find out their stories. That is sad.
It was the narration. Oh wow - the narration is horrible, horrible, horrible. Incessant "fly-throughs" of the town, peeking into everyone's homes and describing the minutiae in a manner that had me feeling like a paying guest on a tour bus. It got in the way of the characters themselves, as if the author was butting into her own characters' conversations, insisting on attention for herself, which was odd in the extreme.
The book was originally a regular blog posting, and it shows. Where Dickens used the serial publication format to great effect in publishing his works in the 19th century, blog-to-novel translation doesn't compute in the same way at all, particularly when each chapter (usually 2-3 pages) sounds exactly like a blog posting.
I was expecting a novel. I was expecting literature. I didn't find it here.
It wasn't the profanity, however heavily applied it was (and it was) - is it somehow a mark of enlightenment to have f-bombs flying all over a page, multiple times in a paragraph? Is it supposed to make the clergy look cool, "hip", "with it"? It doesn't - I wasn't impressed. But I could have lived with that.
It wasn't the characters. In fact, the tragedy of the novel is that the characters were interesting from the start, but I wasn't willing to find out their stories. That is sad.
It was the narration. Oh wow - the narration is horrible, horrible, horrible. Incessant "fly-throughs" of the town, peeking into everyone's homes and describing the minutiae in a manner that had me feeling like a paying guest on a tour bus. It got in the way of the characters themselves, as if the author was butting into her own characters' conversations, insisting on attention for herself, which was odd in the extreme.
The book was originally a regular blog posting, and it shows. Where Dickens used the serial publication format to great effect in publishing his works in the 19th century, blog-to-novel translation doesn't compute in the same way at all, particularly when each chapter (usually 2-3 pages) sounds exactly like a blog posting.
I was expecting a novel. I was expecting literature. I didn't find it here.
March 9, 2018
I need that sixth star again!
I wasn't expecting to like this book at all. It's very churchy for one thing (given that it's about an Anglican community and most of the main characters are vicars of one variety or another) but I absolutely loved it. You see, the characters are very real, with very believable problems and dilemmas, and flawed in a very human way. Even the ordained ones. I hadn't realised how much I had invested in them until I got to the end, and I had a little weep. It's a lovely book.
I found my copy in the library but it should be available on the old Amazon. Do pick it up. It's a lovely, heartwarming book that has done me the world of good.
I wasn't expecting to like this book at all. It's very churchy for one thing (given that it's about an Anglican community and most of the main characters are vicars of one variety or another) but I absolutely loved it. You see, the characters are very real, with very believable problems and dilemmas, and flawed in a very human way. Even the ordained ones. I hadn't realised how much I had invested in them until I got to the end, and I had a little weep. It's a lovely book.
I found my copy in the library but it should be available on the old Amazon. Do pick it up. It's a lovely, heartwarming book that has done me the world of good.
December 13, 2015
I truly loved Catherine Fox's earlier novels, and assumed that to a large extent this would be similar. Wrong. Firstly, it differed in insofar as, being developed from a blog, the narrator is ever-intrusive which I found changed entirely the nature of the thing and rendered it self-conscious. Secondly it was heavy-handed with its promotion of both Christianity and gay marriage, neither of which interest me. So yes, it was mildly entertaining. In parts. But I won't be seeking out the sequel, not even from the library.
March 1, 2016
I loved Acts and Omissions when Catherine Fox posted it as a weekly blog. I love it even more when reading it all in one go without having to wait until the next episode!
The cast of characters is huge, but none of them feel anything less than three-dimensional. The issues raised are also huge, but because the writing is so clear and sharp and downright FUNNY, there is no sense of being preached to. You simply enter into all the emotional conflict along with the characters, willing them on, wincing when they make mistakes and cheering when they make peace with themselves.
The cast of characters is huge, but none of them feel anything less than three-dimensional. The issues raised are also huge, but because the writing is so clear and sharp and downright FUNNY, there is no sense of being preached to. You simply enter into all the emotional conflict along with the characters, willing them on, wincing when they make mistakes and cheering when they make peace with themselves.
March 5, 2018
I LOVED this. It was a perfect read on a snowy weekend when my plans had gone awry. I laughed, a cried. I read the second book last year, and now I might (very rarely for me) go back and read it again so I'm reading them in sequence. I particularly enjoyed the gentle references to faith and bible verses, which were slipped in so naturally.
February 28, 2019
What a brilliant book!!
Obviously it will mean so much more to those in the Church of England, but even if not, it is an amusing story which has so many poignant and deep moments which make you reflect on life and how we conduct ourselves in the world. Highly recommended.
Obviously it will mean so much more to those in the Church of England, but even if not, it is an amusing story which has so many poignant and deep moments which make you reflect on life and how we conduct ourselves in the world. Highly recommended.
May 2, 2023
You can’t beat a good second-hand bookshop for serendipitous browsing; the randomness of the stock you are likely to encounter at any visit is what makes them such a joy. The Amnesty Bookshop in York, long one of my favourite haunts, always comes up trumps and on my last visit I came away with three books (could have been thirty, but I try to set sensible limits on myself), one of which was this treasure.
Acts and Omissions is the first in a series of novels about the Church of England in the twenty-first century, as seen through the lens of a single diocese, somewhere in the Midlands (‘Lindchester’, which from geographical clues in the text, appears to be somewhere in the area occupied by Staffordshire or Shropshire in the real world). The concept is clearly intended as a contemporary version of Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles, and, like her esteemed predecessor, Catherine Fox paints on a wide canvas, with characters ranging from bishops to parish priests struggling in tough environments. Fox, the wife of a cathedral dean, knows her stuff inside out, and her novel is informative, sympathetic, remarkably perceptive about the Church’s strengths, weaknesses and paradoxes, and compulsively entertaining. Some readers have found her deliberately arch authorial voice to be a turn off, but I loved it. I look forward to seeking out the next books in this very appealing series.
Acts and Omissions is the first in a series of novels about the Church of England in the twenty-first century, as seen through the lens of a single diocese, somewhere in the Midlands (‘Lindchester’, which from geographical clues in the text, appears to be somewhere in the area occupied by Staffordshire or Shropshire in the real world). The concept is clearly intended as a contemporary version of Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles, and, like her esteemed predecessor, Catherine Fox paints on a wide canvas, with characters ranging from bishops to parish priests struggling in tough environments. Fox, the wife of a cathedral dean, knows her stuff inside out, and her novel is informative, sympathetic, remarkably perceptive about the Church’s strengths, weaknesses and paradoxes, and compulsively entertaining. Some readers have found her deliberately arch authorial voice to be a turn off, but I loved it. I look forward to seeking out the next books in this very appealing series.
March 15, 2022
I was really excited to read Acts and Omissions. Well I mean for a start given that I work for a Cathedral I was interested to see if life in a Cathedral and Diocese were captured as I had experienced them. This book really is spot on for how things are working in the C of E. I mean I shouldn't have expected anything less given that Catherine Fox is the wife of a Cathedral Dean.
The book is funny, witty and full of the best characters. I loved Matt the Archdeacon and the Dean and her husband. The whole book was a delight to read and so true to how things can be in the church. A fantastic read I must get onto the other books in the series.
The book is funny, witty and full of the best characters. I loved Matt the Archdeacon and the Dean and her husband. The whole book was a delight to read and so true to how things can be in the church. A fantastic read I must get onto the other books in the series.
September 13, 2019
Pure gold!
Love this book from beginning to end. Different style to the three earlier novels I also adored, but - such style, such naughtiness, such grace! For anyone who’s been involved in church life (not necessarily C of E), you may see yourself or someone you know... or at very least, recognise the characters’ dilemmas and empathise with their very human reactions. I’m buying the sequel immediately!
Love this book from beginning to end. Different style to the three earlier novels I also adored, but - such style, such naughtiness, such grace! For anyone who’s been involved in church life (not necessarily C of E), you may see yourself or someone you know... or at very least, recognise the characters’ dilemmas and empathise with their very human reactions. I’m buying the sequel immediately!
February 11, 2024
Really annoying point of view, she buzzes around like a self-conscious drone spying on her characters. Other than that it's modern Trollope and v funny but only if you are deeply steeped in Anglican steeple-people.
September 20, 2019
Brilliant. Highly recommend it if you want a sassy feel good read 💃
November 19, 2020
This was recommended to me by a friend and I really wanted to like it, but I don't.
There are things to admire. It does give an insight into the world of cloisters and curates, a world still surprisingly medieval and full of color (purple mostly). It is well written in chatty slightly arch way. But I didn't find it particularly engaging, and ultimately I found the tone of the narrator grating. Imagine being stuck in a lift with Stephen Fry, entertaining for a while, but in the end just irritating.
I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters and their collection of first world problems. Perhaps I am the wrong demographic. And the plot, spoiler alert Archbishop comes out of closet, decides he does not like it and goes back in.
I know I'm being unfair and that other will love this and I can understand why. But I won't be reading any of the others in this series and kind of wish I had not bothered with this one.
David
There are things to admire. It does give an insight into the world of cloisters and curates, a world still surprisingly medieval and full of color (purple mostly). It is well written in chatty slightly arch way. But I didn't find it particularly engaging, and ultimately I found the tone of the narrator grating. Imagine being stuck in a lift with Stephen Fry, entertaining for a while, but in the end just irritating.
I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters and their collection of first world problems. Perhaps I am the wrong demographic. And the plot, spoiler alert Archbishop comes out of closet, decides he does not like it and goes back in.
I know I'm being unfair and that other will love this and I can understand why. But I won't be reading any of the others in this series and kind of wish I had not bothered with this one.
David
October 14, 2022
No I absolutely did not just read this book in a day (yesterday) and am already nearly done with book two (today) and have book three queued up and am going to be desolate when done with book four because it turns out Trollopian fanfiction about an Anglican diocese during the passage of the marriage equality act is MY JAM and I’m in love with every character and need this comfort food/catnip to stretch into potentially infinity and… and…
⠀
Nope. Not me. That didn’t happen to me at all.
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Nope. Not me. That didn’t happen to me at all.
March 12, 2016
Loved it, loved it, loved it!!! Fox has a wicked sense of humor, a good insight in the thought and vocabulary of clergy-circles, a feeling for the ridiculous, knowledge of the (church)classics and she presents a God I can believe in. I also liked the fact that Andrew Jacks reappeared in this novel and is still insufferable as ever! I really missed him.
June 27, 2020
Loved it. Loved it so much. The church politics, the lines from hymns and prayers slid into the text, the characters, the narrative style... I've been waiting for a couple years to read this, and now I can't wait to read the next ones.
September 2, 2021
I loved it. Really really loved it. It took me a while to get into it and then I started laughing and crying at inflicting bits on my family. Some absolutely beautiful observations and really profound in places. I am going off to buy the next one now.
September 16, 2022
Sort of 1 year blog set in a fictitious Diocese called Lindchester where most of the staff (cannons, dean, priests etc) are high church but Bishop and chaplain are evangelical. This would probably only resonate with Anglicans. Key players are Bishop Paul (suppressed homosexual, but married to lovely (home cooking) Suzy with grown up girls), Freddie May (openly gay, rebellious, self destructive, gorgeous, ex chorister who is a waif taken in by Suzy), arch Deacon Matt who ends up with Dr R (Jane, who was a theological student with Dominic and Paul back in the day but lost her faith, now History lecturer in local Poundstretcher Uni), Father Wendy! (lovely priest whose marriage failed and daughter died as a teenager, now living with family labrador Lulu, who dies by the end of the year.) and gay (but single) Priest Dominic. Other players are Dean Marion (lovely) and Canons (3 of them). Paul was lined up to be arch bishop Durham (but near the end has a weekend fling (the only time since he has been married when he has succumbed to this temptation) with Freddie, while wife away with birthing daughter in Bristol. This is acknowledged to hierachy (this is where the archDeacon really steps in in a excellent way dealing with the fall out) the appointment stopped and Paul takes up a post in a theological college in South Africa. Remember this is written at a time when same sex relationships are not approved by the Church (in fact women Bishops are just being discussed, and although approved by House of Bishops is rejected by House of Laiety, round about 2015). Basically, well observed and well written, dry humour and a lot of bad language. But I enjoyed despite this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2025
A friend recommended this and I confess that I started it with reluctance. The friend said it was a ‘laugh out loud’ book which, for me, wasn’t true in the early pages. Then I got to the point where I really did laugh out loud to the amusement of other customers in the coffee shop where I was reading the book. Catherine Fox (understandably) has a great knowledge of what it is like to live in a Cathedral close. She also has a great way of describing the reality of being a priest, Bishop, Dean, university lecturer etc without sounding pious, insincere or reverting to caricatures. As a Church of England priest I can confirm that the events Catherine Fox describes could, and possibly really have, happened within the Cathedral Close or one of the parishes in the Diocese.
This is not a novel with a plot but more a journey through one year in the life of a Cathedral and some of those connected with it. At first I wasn’t sure whether this could sustain my interest for one book never mind a series but having finished the first book I look forward to reading the next ones in the series.
This, rather than any other theological tome, should be required reading for all those considering ordination or training for it.
This is not a novel with a plot but more a journey through one year in the life of a Cathedral and some of those connected with it. At first I wasn’t sure whether this could sustain my interest for one book never mind a series but having finished the first book I look forward to reading the next ones in the series.
This, rather than any other theological tome, should be required reading for all those considering ordination or training for it.
December 28, 2018
Catherine Fox is one of my favourite authors. I read her first three fiction books (Angels and Men etc) in my early 20s and have re-read them several times. I was so excited to see that she’d written three more and they were available on Scribd.
Fox tells the story as the author describing what her characters are doing (third person subjective voice? Had to look that up). It’s engaging although sometimes distracting, but happens less in the latter half of the book. As a sometime-Anglican I love how familiar her books feel (Fox is a vicar’s wife) and I laughed out loud in places.
This almost got just 4 stars as occasionally her tone borders on the sneery (there’s a lot of friction between evangelical/liberal/high church factions in the book, most of it sharp and hilarious, occasionally a bit close to the bone) and I don’t always like what Fox does with her characters. However towards the end when some familiar faces turned up I knew it would be the full five. That and the fact that people’s love for each other and God, and God’s love for us, shines through every page. Oh, and also that it’s been ages since a book has kept me reading till 3am!
Fox tells the story as the author describing what her characters are doing (third person subjective voice? Had to look that up). It’s engaging although sometimes distracting, but happens less in the latter half of the book. As a sometime-Anglican I love how familiar her books feel (Fox is a vicar’s wife) and I laughed out loud in places.
This almost got just 4 stars as occasionally her tone borders on the sneery (there’s a lot of friction between evangelical/liberal/high church factions in the book, most of it sharp and hilarious, occasionally a bit close to the bone) and I don’t always like what Fox does with her characters. However towards the end when some familiar faces turned up I knew it would be the full five. That and the fact that people’s love for each other and God, and God’s love for us, shines through every page. Oh, and also that it’s been ages since a book has kept me reading till 3am!
December 10, 2019
Having read other books by Catherine Fox, I was looking forward to this. At first I was disappointed. The author talks about "you, the reader" and "as the novelist" and constantly reminds you that you're reading a novel. That way, you stand outside the story, looking in from a distance.
However, as the novel goes on, she does this less and I got to know and like the character. There are a lot of them, maybe a bit too many. Some you get to know better than others. I got more and more drawn into the story and in the end, I enjoyed the book at lot.
It's set in a fictional town and we follow a number of people, most of them connected to the cathedral and all of them connected to each other. The novel takes place over a year.
Some things don't make sense. Does Father Wendy have a husband? He's mentioned once but then doesn't feature at all. And the love story in the novel is a bit unlikely... But all in all enjoyable, with humour and some thought-provoking bits.
However, as the novel goes on, she does this less and I got to know and like the character. There are a lot of them, maybe a bit too many. Some you get to know better than others. I got more and more drawn into the story and in the end, I enjoyed the book at lot.
It's set in a fictional town and we follow a number of people, most of them connected to the cathedral and all of them connected to each other. The novel takes place over a year.
Some things don't make sense. Does Father Wendy have a husband? He's mentioned once but then doesn't feature at all. And the love story in the novel is a bit unlikely... But all in all enjoyable, with humour and some thought-provoking bits.
December 10, 2022
A good story, once I settled to the narrative?
It took me a long way into this story to get used to the narrator's 'voice' guiding me here and there, from one group of characters to another, from this person's thoughts and words to someone else entirely. All explained along the way.
Half way through I had made my peace with the narrative style and started to enjoy the characters more.
I know nothing much about the Church of England, despite being a card-carrying English Brit. That narrator helped then and the little asides became amusing and even enlightening.
A good story at base. Standard 3-stars with an extra star because, in the end I did get used to the way it was written. Very English and as ever.... quietly taking the piss out of itself and the people. Along the way some heartfelt moments where you could feel for individual characters.
A good 4-stars, in the end!
It took me a long way into this story to get used to the narrator's 'voice' guiding me here and there, from one group of characters to another, from this person's thoughts and words to someone else entirely. All explained along the way.
Half way through I had made my peace with the narrative style and started to enjoy the characters more.
I know nothing much about the Church of England, despite being a card-carrying English Brit. That narrator helped then and the little asides became amusing and even enlightening.
A good story at base. Standard 3-stars with an extra star because, in the end I did get used to the way it was written. Very English and as ever.... quietly taking the piss out of itself and the people. Along the way some heartfelt moments where you could feel for individual characters.
A good 4-stars, in the end!
July 21, 2021
A book I found both entertaining and annoying. Nothing much happens until nearly halfway through, when suddenly the lives of the main characters are thrown into disarray by an event so unlikely that it made me cringe. Yes, things like this do happen, but not to characters like these. I don't mean because they are essentially good people, but because it is simply out of character. It must have been hard to think up something shocking enough to compare with a Trollope plot, where even the rumour of mild indiscretions - and it's usually only a rumour - can turn a character into a social outcast. Even so, and even though the progression from there worked out as the reader might have hoped, I couldn't believe in it. This was a pity, because I warmed to all the characters, especially "Father" Wendy and Archdeacon Matt.
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