Eat_Read_Knit reviewed The canon in residence by Victor Whitechurch
Review of 'The canon in residence' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
When it’s suggested to the Reverend John Smith that always wearing clericals colours his view of the world and he might do well to take the collar off occasionally, he is sceptical; when circumstances force this change on him, he begins to see the justice of the remark - and the experience profoundly changes his perspective once the collar is back on.
This is a strongly character-driven novel, but certainly not devoid of plot: having expected John Smith to be very starchy and conservative, the dean, chapter and assorted hangers on are at first surprised and then appalled by their new canon - a situation not helped by a splendidly comic misunderstanding. It’s well written and really quite funny (no, really – I know it doesn’t sound it, but it is) although I concede that it may possibly be less appealing to non-churchgoers. This isn’t one of Whitechurch's crime or …
When it’s suggested to the Reverend John Smith that always wearing clericals colours his view of the world and he might do well to take the collar off occasionally, he is sceptical; when circumstances force this change on him, he begins to see the justice of the remark - and the experience profoundly changes his perspective once the collar is back on.
This is a strongly character-driven novel, but certainly not devoid of plot: having expected John Smith to be very starchy and conservative, the dean, chapter and assorted hangers on are at first surprised and then appalled by their new canon - a situation not helped by a splendidly comic misunderstanding. It’s well written and really quite funny (no, really – I know it doesn’t sound it, but it is) although I concede that it may possibly be less appealing to non-churchgoers. This isn’t one of Whitechurch's crime or mystery books, although there’s a tiny bit of a mystery subplot; I suppose it’s really a comedy of manners. First published in 1904, it’s somewhat of its time – but not as much as I expected. It actually reminded me more than a little of both Trollope’s The Warden and Barchester Towers, and Catherine Fox’s recent Acts and Omissions.
A word of warning. The OCR scanned edition I read was utterly dreadful: it was riddled with errors, and I had to look up a scanned original at Archive several times to check what the original actually said because I couldn’t work it out. If it appeals, I recommend previewing scanned copies thoroughly, reading the pdf (available from Archive) or a trawl of antiquarian bookshops. Or a vast amount of patience.