As a God Might Be

When Proctor McCullough decides to desert his comfortable London life to build a church on a clifftop, nobody knows what to make of it: McCullough is not religious. Is it a midlife crisis Has he gone mad Is he suffering a spiritual breakdown in a secular age, where identity is shaped by wealth and status Or has he really been chosen by God for a new revelationMcCullough finds himself torn between love for his family and a group of local drifters who are helping him to build his church. When one of these drifters commits a shocking act to test his beliefs, McCullough finds himself pushed to the very limits of understanding and forgiveness.As a God Might Be is an epic novel, and Proctor McCullough is a complex and deeply human character struggling to cope with the grand issues of modern life. "Imagine, if you can, a contemporary novel with the theological engagement of Dostoyevsky and the ethical seriousness of George Eliot... As a God Might Be addresses some of the most serious and pressing questions about our twenty-first century sense of identity without either cynicism or soppiness and it will confront all open-hearted (or minded) readers with themselves and the universe they stand in. This is a strange, disturbing and extremely beautiful novel. It is the sort of novel I thought could not be written nowadays. How lovely and exciting to be wrong" -- Sara Maitland, A Book of Silence"A bold, provocative and disorienting novel. Its metaphysical questing, moral conundrums and sexual entanglements are worthy of Iris Murdoch." -- Michael Arditti, Easter"There is no middle flight about this mighty novel. And at its heart there is that divine madness which is the mark of the true work of art." -- Mike McCormack, Solar Bones"As a God Might Be is written with energy and vividness and deals uncompromisingly honestly with the human complexities of encountering and speaking about God