A Review of the Book "The Wine of Angels" by Phil Rickman

Title: The Wine of Angels

Author: Phil Rickman
Publisher: Pan Books
Year: 1999
589 pages

I picked this book up on the recommendation of several of my priestly colleagues. It is a story about an female Anglican priest who takes over a church in a small town, and many strange and mysterious things begin to happen.

There are several story lines, one of which is how a woman deals with being the priest of a church in a small town where no one really seemed to accept her being in that position. I feel like this is the story many of my colleagues were relating to when they recommended the story. Other story line genres included some mystery and a little bit of thriller.

All of this added up to what should have been a great story. Unfortunately, it took me about two-thirds of the book to really get into the story. Being the first of a series, I suppose there needed to be a bit of build up to the two main characters - the priest, Merrily Watkins, and her daughter - so that could have contributed to the slow start. It also could have been me. So many people have told me they like this series that it is likely me.

I don't regret having read the story but I am not enticed to continue with the series. However, I do acknowledge that is is rare to have a woman as a lead character, let alone an Anglican priest who is a woman, so I can definitely see the appeal of the story line.

Perhaps one day I will borrow the second book from someone, or from the library, and see if the rest of the series piques my interest.