Mary Cavanagh's A Man Like Any Other: The Priest's Tale

Mary Cavanagh is another Oxfordshire author I have come to know over the last year since we met at Mostly Books in Abingdon. I discovered her writing when Mark gave me her first novel, The Crowded Bed, which was a delight.

Her second novel, A Man Like Any Other, came out last month and I've just finished reading it. Mary has excelled herself; it's a fine book. Some of the themes present in The Crowded Bed such as the tangled knots of family relationships and the psychological prisons we construct for ourselves and others are also to be found in A Man Like Any Other.

Here's the synopsis: Father Ewan McEwan is the chaplain of Waldringhythe, a Cistercian Abbey on the Suffolk coast. Despite his binding vows as a Roman Catholic priest he has, for most of his adult life, secretly enjoyed a passionate and devoted affair with Marina Proudfoot. When Marina dies, his profound grief forces Father McEwan to follow his own unique instruction; 'To know yourself is to understand yourself, and memory is the only key'. Thus, he tells his life story, from the mystery of his early childhood, his moral dilemmas as a young adult, his world fame as the subject of a controversial, iconic photograph, and his present as a sinning priest.

Edited to add: Mary Cavanagh will be at Mostly Books in Abingdon on Wednesday 8th October,at 7.30pm.

Find this book on Amazon.