Facing the Tank

By Patrick Gale

Book Overview

Patrick Gale's early novel, FACING THE TANK is a witty, eccentric story of clergy, scandal and English eccentrics

'Made me laugh out loud' Sunday Times

American Professor Evan Kirby, author of a successful book on Hell, moves to Barrowcester in the south England expecting to find the very epitome of a cathedral society of gentle clergymen and coffee mornings.

What he encounters instead is a small city thrown into chaos by scandalous pregnancies, a Satanic summoning of a young feral girl and strange, supernatural events that threaten to rock the hitherto genteel, church going community.

'Gale speedily unleashes his merrily black mischief. The uncovering of the sadness behind the doilies and twinsets is in the best tradition of black humour' Observer

What readers have loved about FACING THE TANK:

'A brilliantly observed story, dark, humorous, sometimes subtly, sometimes uproarious' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'It takes as the main theme a black comedy of religious experience and small town life, and applies several hard twists to the plot. Like Trollope's Barchester, but with drugs, AIDS and miracles' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1472255542
• ISBN13: 9781472255549
• Release Date: October 2024
• Publisher: Tinder Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Loved it

This is a truly magical, hotchpotch little story. Smooth as silk tho. The schoolboy who thinks he has fathered a litter of puppies is the cutest thing ya ever want to hear. And PW and LJ forget to mention the Bishop removing the wings from the skeletal remains of the local saint who's to be disinterred. Mr. Gale's writing is magical. Delightful. Funny.

Warm and zany

I absolutely loved this book. The strands of plot were combed out, curled, straightened and braided in front of my amused and appreciative eyes. I felt manipulated in the best possible sense of the word.

Beautifully written tale set in an English cathedral town

A gently humorous look at life in a cathedral town in England where the inhabitants are eccentric, quirky and not always loveable. The twist at the end when all becomes clear is horrifyingly possible.