I’ve watched and enjoyed the TV series (although not so much now that James Norton aka Sidney Chambers no longer features, sorry to be so shallow), and long wondered whether it would be worth reading one of the books. It can be challenging going from adaptation to original, which is why I’ve hesitated. The discrepancies between book and screen sometimes stand out too much, or you get frustrated because you already know how the story ends. This was different though, a prequel to the series designed to tell the story of how Chambers finds God and changes his life. Or, you could look at it the other way round, and say it’s about the way his life experiences lead him to God.

What I liked about this book most was its hard edges, the way in which the author was unafraid to show the impact of war and loss, and the nature of the friendship forged between men who go through the worst of times together. It is ultimately about forgiveness and redemption, and although there is a bit of a twist towards the end, to me that wasn’t the point of the story. Religion and religious choices can be difficult to write about because there’s a risk of alienating believers and non-believers alike. What I think James Runcie did so well here was to make his protagonist’s journey entirely credible, showing us how deeply and over what a long time period Sidney had thought about what he wanted to do with his life after what he’d experienced.

Don’t misunderstand me about the hard edges though, this isn’t a difficult or challenging read, but neither is it the soft-focus, warm-bath experience that Sunday evening TV can be (nothing wrong with it, if that’s what you fancy at the time). It’s well-written and satisfying to read. And it’s not all about religion, some of it’s about the dance between Sidney and Amanda – and if you have watched the TV series you’ll understand the significance of that relationship. Reading it enables you to piece together the clues to future behaviours, full of “so that’s why he/she/they did x/y/z” moments, which I really enjoyed.

Good writing is often about not noticing the craft, you’re so taken on the journey with the author, and I’d say that’s the case with this book. It’s made me wonder whether or not it’d be worth starting at the beginning of the Grantchester novels and working my way through them, so that’s got to be a good thing.