This book had been on my TBR for a looonnng time, and while I don’t quite know why I waited so long to read it, it was worth the wait. 

This takes place just after WWII, and Rufus Denby, our main narrator, has seen some intense action in the war. He has memory gaps and is having violent dissociative episodes (one happens right as the book opens), undoubtedly linked to PTSD. So, he ends up being sent to a small village to look at their church which is due for restoration. Meets the kindly handsome vicar and all sorts of things ensue. 

The book has a very engrossing narrative, involving the whole village, long held secrets, mystical goings-on, and some serious self-sacrificing via sinister/sketchy medical treatment. The narrator did a fantastic job (I wish I could find more books from this narrator, actually.) This is one of those wholly improbable tales that is set up so perfectly you can’t help but be impressed by how it all hangs together. Definitely one I was rambling on about to a disinterested spouse, but I couldn’t help raving about it!