Casting the Net

Casting the Net is Pam Rhodes' second instalment in her heartwarmingly sweet and old fashioned Dunbridge Chronicle trilogy.

In this light-hearted and unashamed english comedy, Pam's compilation of snapshot-length chapters each contribute a story in the trials and tribulations of newly ordained minister, Neil Fisher.

Weaving together the lives of the village characters, Songs of Praise favourite, Pam Rhodes, leads you gently, sensitively and humorously through the tangle of competing demands and relationships which face us all from time to time.

Her lovingly created characters have to face happiness and heartache, loss and grief, sickness, abandonment and even divorce, and then try and live out the faith they seek to find or profess.

There's a lot of grace, humility and love to be discovered in this little community that can teach us all a thing or two about living with eachothers faults and failings.

At the heart of the story is Neil, a newly ordained Anglican priest with many problems. Mostly caused - and solved, by there being so many women in his life. Neil is torn between Wendy and Claire. Wendy would be a perfect helpmeet, but there are no sparks between them. Claire generates a lot of sparks, but is less than ideal for a priest - considering that she is an atheist.

The characters are fascinating and frustrating; with all the human surprises and twists in their lives that reflect our own. And running through it all is the redemptive power of God's saving grace.