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Lindchester #5
The Company of Heaven
2020 and sadly the Tales from Lindford came to an end, but the pandemic did not, and neither did the lives of our valiant Lindchester community. Return to Lindchester once more with The Company of Heaven, the fifth in the beloved series of novels from Catherine Fox.
Valiantly written in real time in the midst of the pandemic, this entertaining book captures the difficulties of 2021 with heart, humour and insight. Perfect for Lindchester fans, it's also the ideal novel for anyone seeking comfort and a way of understanding all that has happened.
In The Company of Heaven, we re-join our Lindchester friends on Easter Monday 2021, just as the third lockdown in our Covid winter of discontent draws to a close. The new paschal candles have been lit. The endless snowy ghastliness of January, February, and March are behind us now.
Shake out your wings and fly once more across the Diocese of Lindfordshire, as we launch out on Pandemic, Part II. We will catch up with old friends and make new ones. Skeletons will tumble from cupboards, and not everyone will behave themselves as well as they ought (this is Lindchester after all).
A twenty-first century Barchester that fans of Barbara Pym and the BBC's Rev will love, this new volume in the Lindchester Chronicles is contemporary Christian fiction at its finest. Sharp-eyed, witty and compassionate, Catherine Fox once again helps us make sense of real-life events and challenges, while weaving through a series of heart-stopping storylines. The Company of Heaven will make you laugh, cry and leave you with hope that grace can be found even in the darkest times.
Valiantly written in real time in the midst of the pandemic, this entertaining book captures the difficulties of 2021 with heart, humour and insight. Perfect for Lindchester fans, it's also the ideal novel for anyone seeking comfort and a way of understanding all that has happened.
In The Company of Heaven, we re-join our Lindchester friends on Easter Monday 2021, just as the third lockdown in our Covid winter of discontent draws to a close. The new paschal candles have been lit. The endless snowy ghastliness of January, February, and March are behind us now.
Shake out your wings and fly once more across the Diocese of Lindfordshire, as we launch out on Pandemic, Part II. We will catch up with old friends and make new ones. Skeletons will tumble from cupboards, and not everyone will behave themselves as well as they ought (this is Lindchester after all).
A twenty-first century Barchester that fans of Barbara Pym and the BBC's Rev will love, this new volume in the Lindchester Chronicles is contemporary Christian fiction at its finest. Sharp-eyed, witty and compassionate, Catherine Fox once again helps us make sense of real-life events and challenges, while weaving through a series of heart-stopping storylines. The Company of Heaven will make you laugh, cry and leave you with hope that grace can be found even in the darkest times.
- GenresFiction
325 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 18, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 28, 2023
This is the 5th book in the Lindchester series and it transports the reader back to 2021 in the midst of the COVID pandemic. I had not read all the previous books but there is an overview as we are introduced to the characters in the story.
It is a fly on the wall look at the lives of the residents. Funny and witty, the author as the narrator takes the readers hand as we dip in and out of the day to day occurrences.
Regrets, new beginnings and memories of the times when we had to meet outside, when vaccines were new, and life tries to continue in the aftermath of the pandemic. The monthly chapters take us into summertime, and through the seasons for twelve months.
This is a book about daily life where we get to know the characters, their families and their troubles. Jane is having a crisis after a tragedy struggling with her guilt. I enjoyed getting to know some of the characters and I will be looking out the other books as they are easy comforting reading.
An enjoyable social commentary of life’s ups and downs.
4 stars ****
It is a fly on the wall look at the lives of the residents. Funny and witty, the author as the narrator takes the readers hand as we dip in and out of the day to day occurrences.
Regrets, new beginnings and memories of the times when we had to meet outside, when vaccines were new, and life tries to continue in the aftermath of the pandemic. The monthly chapters take us into summertime, and through the seasons for twelve months.
This is a book about daily life where we get to know the characters, their families and their troubles. Jane is having a crisis after a tragedy struggling with her guilt. I enjoyed getting to know some of the characters and I will be looking out the other books as they are easy comforting reading.
An enjoyable social commentary of life’s ups and downs.
4 stars ****
August 24, 2023
Return once again to the Lindchester community in this fifth book in the series.
Set during the pandemic of 2021 - it’s a fly on the wall look at the lives of the residents during the pandemic, when we had to meet outside and when vaccines were in the infancy stages.
Loved how the monthly chapters took you through the seasons for a whole year.
You really got to know the characters and their families
An enjoyable, comforting read - leaving you with hope that grace can be found in the darkest of times.
Thanks @fictionfox @SPCKPublishing & @netgalley for the eARC
Set during the pandemic of 2021 - it’s a fly on the wall look at the lives of the residents during the pandemic, when we had to meet outside and when vaccines were in the infancy stages.
Loved how the monthly chapters took you through the seasons for a whole year.
You really got to know the characters and their families
An enjoyable, comforting read - leaving you with hope that grace can be found in the darkest of times.
Thanks @fictionfox @SPCKPublishing & @netgalley for the eARC
May 28, 2023
I enjoy Catherine’s books as she plays with the issues of the day and how they affect her characters and her later Lindfordshire books are less specifically Anglican. It was interesting to look back on 2021 as well - I found myself looking up my Facebook feed to check what I was doing and what the restrictions were as I deal with COVID’s effects on memory and time perception. The reason for four rather than five stars is that it was, as she described it herself, 12 baskets of broken bits, and I found myself thinking “but what about. . .?” a few times too many. I think you have to have read some of the previous books to get the most out of it as the characters and communities are presented fully formed.
There are some bonus short stories at the end. It was nice to read these but slightly jarring as they were set a few years before the main story.
There are some bonus short stories at the end. It was nice to read these but slightly jarring as they were set a few years before the main story.
June 18, 2023
Hot chocolate on a stormy night
I have read all the previous books in this series, so this book is somewhat of a home coming for me. Getting to spend time again with all my favourite characters, while they navigate the tail end of the pandemic restrictions, was such a joy.
What I especially love about this book, and the series in general, is how Fox has created a world identical to our own, with complex and flawed characters, but at the same time conveys how special and important each person is. In all the madness of the world she manages to get across the message that we are all loved and one way or another, all will be well. Somehow or other, Fox manages to take our messed up, broken world and make it beautiful.
I have read all the previous books in this series, so this book is somewhat of a home coming for me. Getting to spend time again with all my favourite characters, while they navigate the tail end of the pandemic restrictions, was such a joy.
What I especially love about this book, and the series in general, is how Fox has created a world identical to our own, with complex and flawed characters, but at the same time conveys how special and important each person is. In all the madness of the world she manages to get across the message that we are all loved and one way or another, all will be well. Somehow or other, Fox manages to take our messed up, broken world and make it beautiful.
July 20, 2023
Good to be back in the Lindchester community again. Both funny and touching, this is great writing. So many characters though, and a while since I read the last book so I did get confused from time to time. But it brought back the day to day reality of the pandemic into focus. These are characters to care about.
January 12, 2024
Another stunning book in this excellent series. Following through the months we travel with a group of people who the author makes so real that even she comments how impossible it seems that they aren't!
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May 28, 2023My review: https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews