Over three remarkable years, the Glanvile family go through events and ordeals that cause it to reassess its deepest values and closest relationships

'Our best chronicler of the rewards and pitfalls of present day faith' Philip Pullman

'His best to date . . . You could truly say all human life was here' A.N. Wilson, Reader's Digest

The Glanvilles are an extraordinary family. Edwin is a retired bishop who has lost his faith. Marta, a child of the Warsaw Ghetto, is a controversial anthropologist. Their son, Clement, is a celebrated gay painter traumatized by the death of his twin. Their daughter, Susannah, is a music publicist recovering from an affair with a convicted murderer.

Over three remarkable years, the family goes through a sequence of events that causes it to reassess its deepest values and closest relationships. Clement's work and reputation are violently attacked and his private life exposed. Susannah's exploration of the Kabbalah takes her into the closed world of Chassidic Jews and a seemingly impossible love. Edwin's illness forces Marta to confront the horrors of her past. Each must find a way to escape the abyss.