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First Parish
Which should come first; the wife, the mother - or the minister? After the long struggle for women's ordination, Rosalind Maclaren, wife and mother of two, is appointed minister of St Cuthbert's. As Rosalind quickly becomes absorbed in her new life, her family seem to be slipping away from her. Sophie is mortified by her mother's high profile, Josh is having trouble at school and even Alastair, her supportive husband, is feeling the strain of being married to a vicar. When Laurence Tennant, an old flame from her university days, reappears on the scene Rosalind is forced to ask herself what really is important...
336 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1998
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2 people want to read
About the author
Helen Cannam
30 books3 followersI have been a writer all my life, at least since I could put pencil to paper. Writing - story-telling - has always been as natural to me as breathing, an essential part of who I am.
Sometimes using the pen names 'Caroline Martin' and ‘Mary Corrigan’, but mostly my own name, I’ve been a published writer since 1980 and a self-published writer since 2012.
For some years I wrote a column for the Northern Echo. I have also given talks to local groups on my writing (and once, at the Bowes Museum, on my early Laura Ashley dress!).
My occasional blog and details of all my books can be found on my website at www.helencannam.com. I also venture onto Twitter from time to time @HelenCannam.
And, yes, I am still writing...
Sometimes using the pen names 'Caroline Martin' and ‘Mary Corrigan’, but mostly my own name, I’ve been a published writer since 1980 and a self-published writer since 2012.
For some years I wrote a column for the Northern Echo. I have also given talks to local groups on my writing (and once, at the Bowes Museum, on my early Laura Ashley dress!).
My occasional blog and details of all my books can be found on my website at www.helencannam.com. I also venture onto Twitter from time to time @HelenCannam.
And, yes, I am still writing...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 7, 2014
The First Parish Helen Cannam
3 stars
Not something I'd normally read but I enjoyed it. It's a very gentle kind of story, so if you want an exciting read, this isn't the one, but it's fine for reading in the bath or something...I thought it was well written and engaging, a few weird little threads that didn't seem to be relevant but that aside it was OK.
Rosalind is a newly ordained parish priest her parish is in the North of England, set in the mid nineties, it gives a good picture of how desperate life became for a lot of small pit towns when the mines began to close, she was among the first group of women to be be ordained and given a parish.
Rosalind is somewhat absorbed by her new role and has the additional challenge of dealing with the discomfit of some of her flock at the change (which I could slightly relate to, my religion does not allow women Priests and I admit the first few weddings etc I attended that where conducted by a woman took a little getting used to for me)
Rosalind's husband and children are affected by the switch in status and the required move to the new area and to add more complications, Rosalind's university boyfriend turns up and starts making a pest of himself, as the situation comes to a crisis point, Rosalind has to work out if her choice to take the cloth was the right one.
3 stars
Not something I'd normally read but I enjoyed it. It's a very gentle kind of story, so if you want an exciting read, this isn't the one, but it's fine for reading in the bath or something...I thought it was well written and engaging, a few weird little threads that didn't seem to be relevant but that aside it was OK.
Rosalind is a newly ordained parish priest her parish is in the North of England, set in the mid nineties, it gives a good picture of how desperate life became for a lot of small pit towns when the mines began to close, she was among the first group of women to be be ordained and given a parish.
Rosalind is somewhat absorbed by her new role and has the additional challenge of dealing with the discomfit of some of her flock at the change (which I could slightly relate to, my religion does not allow women Priests and I admit the first few weddings etc I attended that where conducted by a woman took a little getting used to for me)
Rosalind's husband and children are affected by the switch in status and the required move to the new area and to add more complications, Rosalind's university boyfriend turns up and starts making a pest of himself, as the situation comes to a crisis point, Rosalind has to work out if her choice to take the cloth was the right one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review