This book is just brilliant. Barnaby Johnson, a Church of Ireland minister is the “perfectly good man”. It is set in a small parish in West Cornwall and when we first meet Barnaby he was unwittingly present at the assisted suicide of Lenny, a young parishioner paralysed in a rugby accident. From that moment on I could not put it down and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see how Barnaby struggles with the impact that this had in his own life.

Barnaby faces the big questions that affect us all - faith, love, loss and belonging. Each of the other unforgettable characters come to life on their own before being very cleverly drawn into Barnaby’s world. Rarely have I read a book where the characters are so well created that they are almost life-like.

His simple clear writing style is perfect for the level of sustained tension throughout and his descriptions of everyday details and razor sharp observations of adults and children alike are to be treasured.

I was very sad when it ended only because I wanted to keep reading for another 400 pages as I had become so involved in their lives. Patrick Gale has written numerous other novels to date including his 2008 award winning “Notes from an Exhibition” in which he writes about the effect of mental illness on family life.