Peter CostelloThe Lent Factor: Forty Companions for the Forty days of Lent
With Christmas 2014 still not even upon us, to be thinking about Lent 2015 may seem a little premature to some readers, but this little book contains many delightful and appropriate things, and should not be lost sight of before its needed date. Graham James (pictured) is the Anglican Bishop of Norwich, and makes regular contributions to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4. He was one of those who were widely talked about as a possible Archbishop of Canterbury before the recent elevation of Archbishop Justin Welby.
In this book, he has selected some 40 people, not all of them writers by any means, to share their thoughts on suffering and endurance with readers. These include Eva Peron, Dorothy L. Sayers, Julian of Norwich and Edith Cavell (a suitable choice given the attention now being paid to WWI). Not all are orthodox Christians, by the way, for he also includes Philip Toynbee, the poet and novelist, noted here as the father of Polly Toynbee (which tells you all you need to know about celebrity culture these days).
This is a book to have noted down for purchase, but it could be bought now – after all, a book for Lent ought to be a book for the whole year and reading now might add a suitably penitential tone to the pre-Christmas period.