The Missionary

"God. Odg. Ogd. Dog. Gdo. Dgo. After a few seconds Edgar-In-Church was quite certain these were the only possible combinations of the three letters. God and dog were the only ones that felt like English. The others looked African or Swedish or something. He didn't write the possibilities out until he got home later that day.

"Later was three church meetings later which would put the clock at about three in the afternoon. The baseball game on TV would be almost over unless it was a high scoring affair or went into extra innings. The Giants were in Los Angeles and game time was one p.m."

Edgar is a Mormon missionary, who uses the experience of being sent to Lyon - only to 'escape' to Paris with its sumptuous culture - to question and ultimately reject the dogmatism of the faith he's been brought up in. The result is a beautiful, soul-searching novel that's laced with the author's trademark humour and wisdom and so much love.