"A remarkable novel. Witty, even cynical, observation leads to a conclusion profoundly moving." - Graham Greene "Read is undoubtedly one of the most talented novelists of our generation." - Francis King "[A] profoundly serious contemporary writer whose merits . . . are consistently underrated." - D. J. Taylor "All dark velvet and dry ice . . . If you are caught up by it, as I was, you will devour it at a single sitting and savor its resonances." - New York Times "Rare immaculately constructed work . . . so pleasurable you wish it would never end." - Evening Standard As a boy, Edward Dawson is sent to an exclusive Catholic boarding school, where at a young age he develops an ambition to do good in the world. Believing he has a religious vocation, Dawson takes his monastic vows and enters the Church, first teaching and later working as a parish priest. But when he finds himself increasingly questioning the value of religious work in an...