Everything about the book screamed "WARNING!" to me, from the nicey-nicey English painterly countryside cover, to the warm review from the Daily Mail, to the five pages of glowing review quotes at the beginning of the book which seems to have canvassed the opinion of every Waterstones employee between Lands End and John O'Groats, to the map of Dartmoor (which serves no other apparent purpose than letting readers plan out their trip to "Golightly country") to the "PS. More than just a book..." extras; right down to the bloody tilde that appears alongside every page number for no other apparent reason than to make the whole thing a bit more decorative looking. Yes, this book screamed "TWEE" at me in a big way.

So how come I ended up liking it? I even, in common with every Waterstones employee in the country (and all the reading group members quoted in the "PS" section) found that I "just couldn't put it down". Well, it is almost every bit as twee as I had expected it, but it is twee in a sly knowing way that exacly matches the main character's archaic take on the world. And it is clever in a whole (heavenly) host of other ways. And it's damn funny, in continual belly-rumble sort of way.

The whole book is very cleverly constructed, and it seems to work on every level, from a breezy Miss Marple-substitute which granny would love, through to a theological meditation on the nature of God, the Devil, life, love and light, all constructed using soap-operatic cliches (again, always knowingly). It is big and it is clever but it is also (if you are feeling neither big nor clever) an easy read. I didn't end up quite resounding with the author's take on solving the problems of religion, but that didn't really matter to me, it was so much fun getting there.

RELEASE NOTES:

Picked up at bookcrossing meetup.

To be read.

This book was indeed a tad twee but tempered by wit and wisdom and there were some good comic moments. Had it just been a rather sleepy tale of Devon life I could have got along with it even though it was a bit tedious at times.

What I really couldn't handle was the absence of any rational explanation for the story. While I cottoned on pretty fast to where it was going I kept hoping for that cunning, scientifically-sound explanation. Alas, it didn't come and I, an atheist and humanist, was left feeling completely let down, having plodded through a story that I ultimately found utterly pointless. I'm afraid this trend of religious and spiritual writing which tries to bring it all 'up to date' leaves me a little queasy.

So, sorry to be so rude about a book which is clearly beloved by other people but with my views and beliefs it was never going to work for me.

Interesting to hear you say that AbPh. I loved it *despite* my beliefs (atheist, humanist, and very, very, very anti-religion). I agree the absence of rational explanation was annoying, but not enough so to spoil the book for me in any way.

Not quite sure why I gave it a 10 though - with hindsight I think an 8 or 9 would be more appropriate.

And maybe in retrospect 4 out of 10 was a bit harsh ...it wasn't THAT bad. I just felt really, really disappointed.

I also tend not to mince words when reviewing books and often either adore them or hate them. It keeps me entertained. Take no notice!

Anyway, I will pass it on at some point and the debate can be continued by others. It's good to get a nice discussion going :-)

RELEASE NOTES:

Have come into the famous 'Bean' cafe to release some books but can't find the bookcrossing bookshelf. So... I am going to release the books by leaving them next to the computer I'm currently on, in fact I will leave them on the windowsill by the computer.

If anyone would like to tell me, for future reference, where the bookshelf is that would be most helpful.