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Published May 2019
336 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
The captivating prequel to the treasured Grantchester series follows the life, loves, and losses of young Sidney Chambers in postwar London.
It is 1938, and eighteen-year-old Sidney Chambers is dancing the quickstep with Amanda Kendall at her brother Robert's birthday party at the Caledonian Club. No one can believe, on this golden evening, that there could ever be another war.
Returning to London seven years later, Sidney has gained a Military Cross and lost his best friend on the battlefields of Italy. The carefree youth that he and his friends were promised has been blown apart, just like the rest of the world - and Sidney, carrying a terrible, secret guilt, must decide what to do with the rest of his life. But he has heard a call: constant, though quiet, and growing ever more persistent. To the incredulity of his family and the derision of his friends - the irrepressible actor Freddie and the beautiful, vivacious Amanda - Sidney must now negotiate his path to God: the course of which, much like true love, never runs smooth.
The Road to Grantchester will delight new and old fans alike and finally tell the touching, engaging, and surprising origin story of the Grantchester Mysteries' beloved archdeacon.
"Exceptional… fans of Runcie's sophisticated mixing of whodunit plots with explorations of the human psyche in prior entries will relish getting a fuller picture of Sidney's path toward a life in the church." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Fans of the books...and the popular PBS series will find very little mystery but much to delight them in this often moving look at how life's difficult decisions are made." - Kirkus Reviews
"Series fans will know what Chambers' future holds, but that in no way diminishes the pleasure of this prequel, which lays the groundwork for his life of faith and shows his wartime experience aiding in his detecting avocation. A must for fans and a good starting point for others." - Booklist
"Charming, clever and warm: perfect comfort food for the soul." - Joanne Harris, author of Chocolate
This information about The Road to Grantchester was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James Runcie is an award-winning film-maker, playwright and literary curator. He is the author of twelve novels that have been translated into twelve languages, including the seven books in the Grantchester Mysteries series. He has been Artistic Director of the Bath Literature Festival, Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre, London, and Commissioning Editor for Arts on BBC Radio 4. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in Scotland.
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