‘There are already three of us in this marriage. I’m not sure there is room for a fourth . . .’
Ann is a reluctant Vicar’s wife. She loves her family and tries hard to do her duty, but is beginning to wonder how she ended up here. Her husband is too preoccupied with the needs of his congregation to notice those closer to home and her son is asking questions she is struggling to answer.
When her brother makes a cry for help, Ann travels from Cornwall to be with him in London. And then she meets Jamie, and a new world unexpectedly opens up. Ann knows what the older women of the parish would say – she’s made her bed and now she has to lie in it. But temptation is easier to avoid than it is to resist . . .
The wise, moving and funny new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink, Ordinary Time is an unforgettable story of the trials and sacrifices of everyday life; one that asks big questions about marriage and friendship, forgiveness and salvation, and the path of true love.
A brilliant portrait of a community and an insightful exploration of marriage and family life. Funny and heartbreaking, immersive and thoroughly satisfying — Nina Stibbe
Here is the absolute truth about love, told with wisdom, heart and humour. So clever, funny and life-affirming — Meg Mason
I loved Ordinary Time and couldn’t put it down. Cathy Rentzenbrink is Britain’s answer to Anne Tyler . . . a very clever, funny, well-observed, absorbing and beautiful novel. Wonderful — Philippa Perry
A beautiful and generous novel about love in all its forms, about daring to reach for the stars and how to sail through the storms that knock us off course — Kit de Waal
Witty, tender, heartrending. Ordinary Time is about the huge feelings that howl beneath the surface of the everyday. No one has written this astutely about the inner lives of middle-aged women since Barbara Pym — Clare Pollard
A wise and funny novel full of heart and truth by a truly brilliant writer — Julia Samuel
Cathy Rentzenbrink 