This was a book I felt slightly weird about. K M Peyton has lovely descriptive and emotional passages as usual (though rather more about God and mysterious workings than I would have entirely expected - it suits the main character though). However, having read a description that mentioned that Pat and Ruth Pennington were also in the book but some years later, I hadn't expected that to turn into a dissection of possible difficulties in their relationship. I'd imagined them older, having worked out the key issues (combining a demanding career and the need for clarity in how they love each other), and being - I dunno, helpful mentor-y characters? Anyway obviously I was reading a Peyton book not my own imagined book and it didn't work out like that, fine, but the assumptions I'd started with slightly derailed my enjoyment. I think I particularly didn't want to read about the rocky bits of the Penningtons' relationships (my problem not the author's of course).