‘A textured and bittersweet picture of a community that is both out of time and all too insistently in it.’ – Brian Morton, TLS
Greetings from Hoxton Square, where autumn is beginning to make its presence felt, and we’ve been busy in the office sending out orders for the new issue of our quarterly magazine and latest Slightly Foxed Editions.
We were thrilled to spot a glowing review of Love Divine in the TLS’s recent books roundup, and felt it was the perfect excuse to shine a spotlight on this very special title.
Love Divine is a first foray into fiction by Ysenda Maxtone Graham, already known to many readers for her hilarious bestseller Terms and Conditions. With an unsolved mystery at its heart, Love Divine takes us through the Church year in Lamley Green, a leafy village on the edge of London which is temporarily without a rector.
Just as the parish is in a state of flux and anxiety, so are its parishioners: grieving Lucy, Carol the lugubrious church volunteer, snobbish Elizabeth, commitment-phobic Vicki and Eliot trying to break even with their B&B, Latin master Hugh on the cusp of a solitary retirement, ruthless newcomer Chantelle who’s prepared to do anything to get her daughter into the over-subscribed church school, and Rachel the ordained sceptic who dares to speak her mind.
With her usual consummate skill, Maxtone Graham brings together the members of this small community in a light-hearted but touching story which also points up affectionately but with deadly accuracy what’s wrong – and what’s right – with the modern C of E. Is Love Divine in the air? If so it will come in many unexpected guises.
Please scroll on to read Brian Morton’s review for the TLS, browse more reading recommendations and find out about our Autumn Bookshop of the Quarter, the new branch of Toppings & Company which has opened up in York.
With best wishes, as ever, from the SF staff
Isabel, Rebecca, Ruth, Edie & Jennie
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