This Brother of Yours

Back among the monks of St Alcuins Abbey, frail and damaged, he appreciates their understated friendship. But even men of religion, schooled to obedience, have their limits, and William can be both sharp and dangerous. Invited to serve in the infirmary, how will this fastidious, prickly man cope with the old, sick and incontinent? Can Brother Michael, the infirmarian, find the insights to reach his awkward new colleague?

Then there is Abbot John, both William's friend and his superior, oppressed by paperwork and weighed down by the cares of office. Where will he find the time, let alone patience, to offer counsel and warmth to this least comfortable of men?

This is a novel about healing, in every sense: what happens after the prodigal son comes home, in the parable's untold second chapter, when everyone shuffles up to make room - and, to his delight, the other son gets a break.

This Brother of Yours is the first volume in the second series of The Hawk and the Dove novels. Chronologically it follows on from A Day and a Life.