The Wine of Angels

As an avid reader stumbling onto something truly new and interesting is such a rare and welcome treat. I have read a few of Phil Rickmans stand alone older novels and loved them. This is the first in the Merrily Watkins series and it is a pleasure to read. Atmospheric and well written, the pace plot and charaters are all excellent. I wont go into yet another description of the story as many others have already done so..but I will say BUY THIS BOOK! You will be so happy that you did and wont be able to wait to read the next one. Here is a helpful hint on the order of books in the series: 1. Wine of Angels 2. Midwinter of the Spirit 3. A Crown of Lights 4. The Cure of Souls 5. The Lamp of the Wicked 6. The Prayer of the Night Shepard 7. The Smile of a Ghost 8. Remains of an Altar 9. The Fabric of Sin

The Wine of Angels is Phil Rickman's first Merrily Watkins story. I don't know if Rickman already saw where these stories would go or if he simply set out to write an eerie tale of the woman who, short order would become one of the Anglican Church's rarest breed, a Deliverance minister (an exorcist, in lay terms) but all the seeds for the series are here. For someone who started in the middle, like me, it is fascinating to see how the characters began their development. Merrily Watkins came into the church late. She started out to become a lawyer, then a mother, and then the widow of a shady solicitor who went a few steps too far. Now, with her daughter Jane, Merrily has begun her first big assignment as vicar of Ledwardine - a cozy British country town undergoing gentrification with more than a few dark secrets of its own. They find themselves housed in a rattling old vicarage which, if not haunted, still bears the echoes of a 17th Century vicar who became a tragic figure in a witch hunt and committed suicide in the nearby orchard rather than face trial. Or so it appears, anyway. When a modern playwright decides to retell this as the persecution of a homosexual in a time that lacked any understanding the village erupts in a tempest. The argument pits newcomers against families that are centuries old and Merrily quickly discovers that there are more than a few skeletons in this particular closet. Even as this develops, Jane befriends a troublesome woman who, at the age of 16, has all the worldliness that Jane still lacks. When this woman suddenly disappears Jane, somehow psychically connected to the orchard, senses that this is no case of running away, but that something much darker lurks. The stories intertwine, involving a musician who is subject to deep depression and an older woman of distinctly 'pagan' (as Merrily puts it) spirituality. As events hurtle to a climax, Merrily finds her faith tested time and again as she tries to overcome the hurdles must confront a woman assigned as vicar to a rural community and keep her relationship with Jane from exploding on its own. I like Phil Rickman's horror well in general, but for some reason, his best writing happens in these stories of a woman facing challenges mysterious and spiritual. While these aren't really horror stories, many will generate chills as they confront evils that are partly spiritual, but mostly human. Rickman's characters read naturally as they confront both modern issues and dark corners of the soul that often have roots centuries in the past. This cross-genre mix works well under Rickman's control, creating 600 page novels that are impossible to put down.

While following a typical "whodonnit"-cum-supernatural-thriller formula, what Phil Rickman does in the series of novels that begins here is more, much more ambitious. Through well fleshed-out, impossible to forget characters, and a very intense sense of atmosphere (really, the village and buildings are just like characters with a definite -i.e. compllex- personality) Rickman explores some of the spiritual alternatives offered in western society. In spite of the aparent lack of interest in anything related to the spiritual that many of the characters display -as for instance the protagonist's own teenage daughter-, under the surface we see how many are desperately looking for something to believe in, to use as guidance in our complicated world. This -conscious or unconscious- search for meaning leaves many of the most unlucky characters just trying to keep the balance and survive (like the ex rock-star Lol), or plain unbalanced. The lucky ones receive what they interpret as a clear sign, and have the guts to follow it to the ultimate consequences (such is the case of Merrily, the protagonist, who in a few years has given her life a sudden turn by not just becoming religous, but also a priest). But maybe the least lucky of all, as I see in these novels, are the cynics, the people bent on being materalistic, on finding the easiest answers and the shortcuts. And above all, there is a sense of connection with the past, with the place and the events that happened there and that bring unavoidable consequences. Because even if we want to reject this connection, if we don't want to see that the deeds of our ancestors have an influence in our present, that we are surrounded by their effects.... that won't make them disappear. Past and present are connected in this first Merily Watkins novel in dangerous, surprising ways, and the labour of finding out "whodonnit" refers to the past as much as to the present. The outcome is highly original, surprising and fresh. You won't be able to put the book down until you are guided through the convoluted past and present fact and learn exactly WHAT. The subject of this series is thorny, but the author manages to deliver incredibly good stories that handle in a surprisingly gutsy and candid way some of the many spiritual options available -and the dangers and limits they can entail- , while being generally respectful and delivering great fiction -the characters and sense of atmosphere are especially superb. I have read 6 of the novels in these series and liked them all....in fact I usually read them as a treat when I deserve one....

I have just discovered the Merrily Watkins series of novels, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Phil Rickman manages to create the perfect blend: interesting characters with a lot of depth, mystery with a tinge of the supernatural, and charming recreation of English village life. In this particular book, Merrily (a priest in the Anglican church) scouts out the village that will be her next post, and participates in a seemingly harmless ritual in an ancient apple orchard. Although the ritual is meant to embue the orchard with new life and increase the apple harvest, it is enacted by a yuppie couple who only intend to promote commercialism in the village and increase tourism. Something goes very wrong, and an old man dies in a particularly horrible and bloody way. Throughout the rest of the book, we see this dynamic tension between the modern world and the darker, "old" ways of the English countryside. While all this is going on, we get to know Merrily and her feisty daughter who both have their own problems adjusting to small village life. Rickman does a great job of keeping us on the edge of our seat, as we wonder how Merrily will resolve her position in the church with the undeniably powerful dark forces that confront her.I must say that I never saw the ending coming, and was pleased by the clever resolution.

I've been buying Rickman novels from UK websites for a couple of years now. Years ago, after reading Curfew (until now, one of the few of his novels available in the States), I was hooked by the supernatural plots, on the mark characterizations, subtle humor and creepy settings. In The Wine of Angels Rickman introduces Rev. Merrily Watkins, who finds herself in the middle of a community uproar of the natural and supernatural type while trying to gain acceptance as a female vicar in a small, traditional village. One of the things I really like about Rickman's writing is the way he blends the supernatural with the mundane. In this case, Merrily faces the supernatural in a haunted vicarage while dealing with sexism and the challenges associated with raising a teenager. If you like Merrily here, try the next book, Midwinter of the Spirit.I hope Rickman's cooking up some more clever thrillers for his readers here in the U.S.