The title, with its shallow, chick-lit flavour, is very misleading, as this book is a genuine, engaging and compassionate exploration of the burdens and temptations of church leaders, both male and female, as well as those common to us all. The main story of a woman curate and her youth-leader friend is interleaved with fictional accounts of a woman of Jesus’ time and her interaction in stories from the gospels, mirroring in some ways the struggles and disasters of the modern-day protagonists. While not a light read, after a shaky start it holds the interest. The Biblical narratives do come over more smoothly and the modern ones slightly more awkwardly – either in spite of the author’s real-life position as an ordained church-of England minister or maybe because of it. Still the reader is carried along with both stories, wanting to know the outcome for the characters, who are very well drawn. Maybe all of the endings are tied up a bit too neatly – but this is fiction after all! A book to get your teeth into, and one which will repay the experience.

The title, with its shallow, chick-lit flavour, is very misleading, as this book is a genuine, engaging and compassionate exploration of the burdens and temptations of church leaders, both male and female, as well as those common to us all. The main story of a woman curate and her youth-leader friend is interleaved with fictional accounts of a woman of Jesus’ time and her interaction in stories from the gospels, mirroring in some ways the struggles and disasters of the modern-day protagonists. While not a light read, after a shaky start it holds the interest. The Biblical narratives do come over more smoothly and the modern ones slightly more awkwardly – either in spite of the author’s real-life position as an ordained church-of England minister or maybe because of it. Still the reader is carried along with both stories, wanting to know the outcome for the characters, who are very well drawn. Maybe all of the endings are tied up a bit too neatly – but this is fiction after all! A book to get your teeth into, and one which will repay the experience.

The title, with its shallow, chick-lit flavour, is very misleading, as this book is a genuine, engaging and compassionate exploration of the burdens and temptations of church leaders, both male and female, as well as those common to us all. The main story of a woman curate and her youth-leader friend is interleaved with fictional accounts of a woman of Jesus’ time and her interaction in stories from the gospels, mirroring in some ways the struggles and disasters of the modern-day protagonists. While not a light read, after a shaky start it holds the interest. The Biblical narratives do come over more smoothly and the modern ones slightly more awkwardly – either in spite of the author’s real-life position as an ordained church-of England minister or maybe because of it. Still the reader is carried along with both stories, wanting to know the outcome for the characters, who are very well drawn. Maybe all of the endings are tied up a bit too neatly – but this is fiction after all! A book to get your teeth into, and one which will repay the experience.