Slow but gripping
HavenSet in seventh-century Ireland a manic priest and scholar has a vision that he is to establish a monastery away from the sinful world. Taking two other monks, a young novice an grizzled veteran this is the story of their endeavour. Sometimes the novel reads like a d.i.y. handbook for Robinson Crusoe and most times travels at the speed of grass growing. Nevertheless the plot gradually tightens to an unexpected ending. If the book did nothing else, it re-enforced my belief in the cruelty and hypocrisy of some relegions.