The Choir - Couverture souple

In the gentle precinct of Aldminster Cathedral, crisis loomed. The urbane and worldly Dean (Purdey guns and the regular arrival of a delivery van from Berry Brothers) wanted nothing so much as to restore and beautify his beloved Cathedral - even if it meant sacrificing the Choir School to pay for it. Alexander Troy, Headmaster of the school, a conscientious man, somewhat out of his depth with his elusive and poetical wife (once seen walking barefoot in the dew across the Cathedral Close) was determined that nothing and no-one - certainly not the overbearing Dean - should destroy the Choir. As the rift widened into machiavellian dimensions, many others found themselves caught in the schism - Leo Beckford, brilliant but wayward organist, repelling the adoration of the Dean's dreadful daughter - the gentle, left-wing Bishop, trying to soothe the angry protagonists - Sally Ashworth, mother of the leading chorister, fighting loneliness and an erring and absent husband. Each frail and human dilemma took its part in the greater turmoil of Chapter and Close and the final battle for the survival of the Choir.

'Richly satisfying' Evening Standard

In the gentle precinct of Aldminster Cathedral, crisis looms.The urbane and worldly Dean wants nothing so much as to restore his beloved Cathedral - even if it means sacrificing the Choir School to pay for it.Alexander Troy, the school's headmaster, is determined that nothing and no one - certainly not the overbearing Dean - shall destroy the Choir.

As the rift widens, many others are caught in the schism: Leo, the brilliant but wayward organist; the gentle left-wing Bishop, trying to soothe the angry protagonists; and Sally, mother of the leading chorister, fighting loneliness and an absent husband.Each frail and human dilemma took its part in the final battle for the survival of the Choir.

'A modern Barchester chronicle' Sunday Telegraph