A Good Year
EDITED BY MARK OAKLEY

A Good Year, in outline, doesn’t sound very exciting. Seven reflections from seven Anglican bishops – four male, three female – for seven seasons of the liturgical year, from Advent to Pentecost. Bit contrived, you might think. Bit worthy.

Happily, the reality is rather less neat and far more interesting. As spirituality books go, this one is open-ended and imperfect in an entirely good way.

This is for two reasons. One is that the ­bishops on display here are distinguished by the way in which they occupy various points on the candle. Karen Gorham’s evangelical enthusiasm is quite different from Rowan Williams’ catholic erudition, or Stephen Cottrell’s evangelical catholicism.