Acts and Omissions Reviewed

An ecclesiastical equivalent of the Archers written for the type of people who spend August Bank Holiday tweeting about the depth of the mud at Greenbelt. That's the short summary of Acts and Omissions, the new novel, by Catherine Fox.

The book follows Bishop Paul and a number of other clergy in the fictional diocese of Lindchester over the course of a year; 2013. Amongst these clergy are the warm and gentle Dominic and the practical and compassionate Wendy. These characters have a parish ministry and the portrait of them painted by the writer displays real affection. The church hierarchy are described in a way which veers between the touching and the barbed. This perhaps reflects the authors own experience as the wife of the dean of Liverpool's Anglican cathedral.

The book is, as I said, fiction but there is something of the ethnographic about it. In her description of the clergy, their spouses, family, friends and co-workers as well as in her geographical descriptions there is well observed real life which creeps in. The skill Fox has is to weave different snapshots of the world around her into a imaginative whole.

One example of how Fox turns the very real into the fictional could be seen when Jane, an abrasive, yet caring and indeed loveable academic finds herself in a sports hall acting as chief invigilator. As somebody who has done invigilation at the Maiden Castle Sports Hall in Durham for university exams I pictured exactly the scene she was describing.

The overall effect is that whilst aspects of Lindchester can be identified with particular places a fictional, yet familiar diocese is very believably created. Thus, Lindchester becomes as believable as Ambridge.

The narrative itself is fast moving and because of the large number of characters there is only a limited insight into each you can get. Yet the windows into their lives and souls we do get are clear and detailed.

Being set in 2013 the same sex marriage debate cannot be avoided and is a key sub-theme within the book. Whilst being careful not to give the plot away I would say if you expect your own view on the debate to be vindicated or don't want to think about this issue in its widest context this book probably isn't for you. The strength of this part of the plot is that it looks at the debate in a way which is sensitive to the complexities of a variety of positions. However, there are still times when the author sets up discussion of the taboo areas of conversation amongst Christian including bisexuality and then steps away.

I don't want to give the impression that sexuality is the key theme of the book, it is only one part of the story. Other sub-plots include clergy relationships with their parishioners, empty nest syndrome, separation and single parenthood along with bullying and loneliness.

These themes may not seem that cheery but this is not a depressing book. Yes, it is moving in places but it is also a full on laugh out loud book where you find yourself thinking, and sometimes verbally saying, "OMG, did she actually just say that."

My one criticism is that in appealing to her core group of readers, who have followed this in blog form prior to publication, she decides to get cheap laughs at the expense of evangelicals. In doing this, at times, she moves away from the well written prose and clever humour than shines through the majority of this book.

In my introduction I indicated that the core readership will be Christians, particularly of the type who go to Greenbelt. They will understand the in jokes which are there within the text. Yet I don't think that it can't be enjoyed by those outside of the church. Anybody who enjoyed Joanna Trollope's book The Choir would find this an interesting book to read, looking at similar but different aspects of cathedral life a couple of decades on.

If you read this and enjoy it as much as I did, not wanting to wait until June 2015 for the sequel you can follow 2014 in Lindchester on Fox's blog.

I look forward to discussing the book with the West EndUnited Book Group in Wolverton on Thursday 23rd October and finding out what they think of this novel. All are welcome.

Acts and Omissions by Catherine Fox is published by SPCK.

ISBN: 978-0-281-07234-7