Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and deeply moving
Review: Knowing that those likely to read this review may well already share my love for the series as a whole, I shall begin by saying that Susan's gift for characterisation, with a great honesty and much room for grace to do its work, is always superb, and here at a new peak. My general approach to her main figures in the series is to see Jonathan Darrow as someone I'd love to hear preach but might be nervous to meet (even if he tends to compress 40 years worth of direction into a week's retreat) - Neville Aysgarth as someone I'd like to shake by the shoulders - Nicholas Darrow as one I'd closet with a library of the first fifteen centuries of Christian thought before he'd be allowed out - and Charles Ashworth as the ultimate Christian intellectual with whom I'd love to share weekly four-hour lunches with the best claret on the table. In this volume, Charles is once again the key character, and the reader finds, as he himself gradually learns, that the old glittering image is still much alive and as troublesome as ever.Watching this character struggle with bereavement and grief of all varieties, and finally face the long-hidden "demons" which lurked in shadows to affect his relationship with his children and with his old nemesis Aysgarth, is incredibly moving and insightful. Dramatic though the plot becomes, it is a marvellous work wherein a seasoned bishop comes to new self-knowledge, humility, compassion ... and, while I'll not give the ending away, ultimately a specific setting of happiness which some readers will have thought he should have snatched 30 years before.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute excellence!
Review: This and every one of Susan Howatch's novels are well worth the time put into them. They're literate, challenging and dare to explore questions of faith, love, family and loyalty. And while her "potboiler" novels are excellent, DON'T be put off by the 6-volume Church of England series. The characters are engaging and the questions and answers they discover during the traumatic events of their lives and the eventual renewal of their souls took me to philosophical places I'd never been before and forced me to often consider the same issues the characters themselves grappled with. That's what's wrong with people today - they're intellectually lazy and don't want to deal with issues of faith, belief, and the renewing powers of love. However, Ms. Howatch does so with a style and flair and gift with the written word that I can only sit back, read and envy and admire. More! More!
Rating:
Summary: Absolute excellence!
Review: This and every one of Susan Howatch's novels are well worth the time put into them. They're literate, challenging and dare to explore questions of faith, love, family and loyalty. And while her "potboiler" novels are excellent, DON'T be put off by the 6-volume Church of England series. The characters are engaging and the questions and answers they discover during the traumatic events of their lives and the eventual renewal of their souls took me to philosophical places I'd never been before and forced me to often consider the same issues the characters themselves grappled with. That's what's wrong with people today - they're intellectually lazy and don't want to deal with issues of faith, belief, and the renewing powers of love. However, Ms. Howatch does so with a style and flair and gift with the written word that I can only sit back, read and envy and admire. More! More!
Rating:
Summary: This series remains strong till the end
Review: This final books in the series doesn't lose any of the power of the first book when the character of Charles Ashworth is introduced. I have read all of the series. The most striking thing about this final book is the growth of Charles' wife from a somewhat unlikeable character into one I can truly understand and admire. Here is a woman who has made serious errors in her life. Yet, she overcomes and in her last years, on her own, discovers the power of prayer. She also, opens up to other women and is less alone than in her youth. I loved this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Satisfying Conclusion To 6 Book Series
Review: When we started out in Book #1, the narrator, Charles Ashworth, was still fairly young. In this novel, he is again the narrator but he is elderly and the bishop of Starbridge. Being this age, he can wind up everyone's story. There is his whole generation of people and their families in the Anglican Church plus his childrens' generation of people. Of all the books, I'd say this one you better read as #6 and not out of order. There are simply too many stories which are wrapped up here that won't have the same impact on you if you haven't read books 1-5. This novel has its share of worldly problems with: gay priests (2), the ghost of Jardine appearing in the cathederal, an exorcism of the cathedral, a possible embezzlement by Dean Aysgarth from cathedral funds, a suicide, death of a spouse and finding another spouse. It also has combined therapeutic-spiritual sessions again with Jon Darrow as spiritual director for both Ashworth and Aysgarth. Once I started any of the 6 books, I couldn't stop reading till the end and this one was no exception.
Rating:
Summary: Very Satisfying Conclusion To 6 Book Series
Review: When we started out in Book #1, the narrator, Charles Ashworth, was still fairly young. In this novel, he is again the narrator but he is elderly and the bishop of Starbridge. Being this age, he can wind up everyone's story. There is his whole generation of people and their families in the Anglican Church plus his childrens' generation of people. Of all the books, I'd say this one you better read as #6 and not out of order. There are simply too many stories which are wrapped up here that won't have the same impact on you if you haven't read books 1-5. This novel has its share of worldly problems with: gay priests (2), the ghost of Jardine appearing in the cathederal, an exorcism of the cathedral, a possible embezzlement by Dean Aysgarth from cathedral funds, a suicide, death of a spouse and finding another spouse. It also has combined therapeutic-spiritual sessions again with Jon Darrow as spiritual director for both Ashworth and Aysgarth. Once I started any of the 6 books, I couldn't stop reading till the end and this one was no exception.
Rating:
Summary: Please Read This Book
Review: You will love this book. If you like books based in England you'll love it even more, but just in general it will move you. It is funny, spiritual, serious, light, tragic . . . it's everything you need in a good read. I agree with the other reviewers, it does stand extremely well on it's own, but it is part of a set. If you can, read the previous five books, but it is not required to understand and be affected by what goes on in Absolute Truths. I have told many people about this book and everyone who has read it loved it. Susan Howatch is a modern-day miracle worker genius. She is inspiring, intelligent and compassionate in her portrayals and in her message to the reader. Read this book and let it change your life - it has already changed mine.
Rating:
Summary: Please Read This Book
Review: You will love this book. If you like books based in England you'll love it even more, but just in general it will move you. It is funny, spiritual, serious, light, tragic . . . it's everything you need in a good read. I agree with the other reviewers, it does stand extremely well on it's own, but it is part of a set. If you can, read the previous five books, but it is not required to understand and be affected by what goes on in Absolute Truths. I have told many people about this book and everyone who has read it loved it. Susan Howatch is a modern-day miracle worker genius. She is inspiring, intelligent and compassionate in her portrayals and in her message to the reader. Read this book and let it change your life - it has already changed mine.
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