My sister gave me this book. I think it looks good but my sister wasn't impressed. Here is her Goodreads review:

I thought from the descriptions and quotes on the cover of this book that it was going to be a thriller/mystery book. There was a mystery in the story but it was really just a back drop to the religious debates that were going on. It took around 150 - 200 pages before the mystery part really started and the book is only 360 pages long. The book is about a group of friends from the same parish who go on a retreat with their new priest and they are hoping that where they go (a place with a religious shrine) will cure one of the people's sons who is mute. They have been to the shrine and performed the same rituals several times before and it's never worked so it does seem silly that they are expecting anything different. However, this time there are new people around the place and they seem to be able to cure ailments although there seems to be an undefined price for this. The story is told from the viewpoint of the younger brother and I got the impression that in order to be healed, you were making a deal with the devil and the favour needs to be repaid. I read the book in only a few days but I wouldn't say it's a page turner, I kept waiting for more to happen but nothing ever really did.

I should have known from the 'Winner of the 2015 Costa First Novel Award' that this book would be dull. Books that win awards are dull about 80% of the time. But I thought it looked and sounded good. It has loads of reviews on the back cover, the words Gothic, haunted and British Horror are thrown about, which made me expect a Ghost story. Spoiler alert, this is not a Ghost story.

This is a book in which a group of Catholics and their priest head up to a place called 'The Lonely' to celebrate Easter and visit a shrine, in the hopes that God will perform a miracle on Hanny and allow him to speak. Firstly, I'm not 100% sure when this was set, sometime after the war but not too modern I would guess, but did people actually do this? Go away in a group with a Priest? Secondly most of the book is just about what they do once they get there, which is pray mostly. Yawn.

The only part of the book I found myself enjoying, was the final part of the book in which the big twist is revealed which was a good twist, however not sure it was worth the 300 odd pages it took to get there.

I personally wouldn't read this again. There are much better books out there.

Left in the Phone Box.

Found in the little red phonebox, book swap in Chobham 🥰🥰 only half way through but love the writing style and tone. The author is very much able to touch nerves and capture nostalgia and found a way to be relateable as if a friend is telling you thier story. Will return to the red phone box when finished.