First published 1987 Michael Mayne is an Anglican priest well-known as a writer, broadcaster and former Dean of Westminster. This book is an account of a serious illness he suffered in 1986; a debilitating illness which several doctors could not diagnose but which later was discovered to have been M.E. He describes in the first part of the book the course of that illness and how it affected him, his family and his parishioners. He deals with its effect not only on his body, the pain and the disability, but also on his spirit, the hopelessness and despair. In the second part he reflects on that terrible year and how he began to see it in the context of his faith, how out of it came understanding and compassion. He reflects on the meaning and value of suffering in the light of Christ's own passion. It is about getting to know God in the bad times as well as the good. Mayne writes articulately, sincerely and with conviction. The book will be read with profit by all those who want to understand why pain and suffering are part of the human condition, indeed why there has to be in order for us to mature spiritually.