A Perfectly Good Man - Softcover

‘Guaranteed to give the reader a warm glow’ Independent

‘Warm and humane, this novel is beautifully written’ The Times

‘This being Gale there’s a compelling tale to be told ... a convincing, moving account of man’s struggle with faith, marriage and morality’ Sunday Times

‘The unfolding nightmare for all the family of the consequences of adopting are exquisitely and painfully documented... The final chapter left me with a lump in my throat’ Salley Vickers, Guardian

‘At his best, Gale is an effortlessly elastic storyteller, a writer with heart, soul, and a dark and naughty wit, one whose company you relish and trust’ Julie Myerson, Observer

The new novel from Patrick Gale, author of Richard & Judy-bestseller ‘Notes from an Exhibition’, returning readers to his beloved Cornish coastline.

‘Do you need me to pray for you now for a specific reason?’
‘I’m going to die.’
‘We’re all going to die. Does dying frighten you?’
‘I mean I’m going to kill myself.’

When 20-year-old Lenny Barnes, paralysed in a rugby accident, commits suicide in the presence of Barnaby Johnson, the much-loved priest of a West Cornwall parish, the tragedy's reverberations open up the fault-lines between Barnaby and his nearest and dearest – the gulfs of unspoken sadness that separate them all. Across this web of relations scuttles Barnaby's repellent nemesis – a man as wicked as his prey is virtuous.

Returning us to the rugged Cornish landscape of ‘Notes from an Exhibition’, Patrick Gale lays bare the lives and the thoughts of a whole community and asks us: what does it mean to be good?