It’s 1997, only months after the IRA bomb that blew the centre of Manchester apart. Joe Porter knows his perspective on this atrocity is flawed: for him, the worst thing about it is he can no longer get a good cappuccino. As a convert to Christianity, he also knows that CDs, films, books, women – earthly temptations – should matter less to him than they do. And then he takes his two daughters to the park, returning with just one of them… He tries to put as much distance as he can between himself and his trauma. As tensions mount between Joe and his wife Sarah, the idea of rekindling an old flame with sexy, freewheeling Gill Forsythe grows ever more tempting. What’s he got to lose?
Rather than a plaster saint, Joe is an appealingly imperfect human being, a classic square peg in a round hole. With priorities that are hopelessly askew, how’s he ever going to hang onto his wife, his family, his faith?
‘This is a fantastic book, a great read.’
– Mike Shaft, Sunday Breakfast, BBC Greater Manchester Radio
‘A really entertaining novel.’
– Humani
‘Funny and tragic all at the same time, wittily and sharply observed, it makes for excellent, entertaining reading.’
– UC Magazine
Published by Troubador, 2006
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