The monastery of St James the Less is due for closure. It has sat in the Arabian desert for too long, apparently. But Abbot... More > Peter, sent to oversee its demise, isn't so sure. He finds strange life in this sanctuary for the desperate. So St James carries on; and as the battered make their way to its sun-baked door, it appears as just another refuge for those who seek retreat and withdrawal from the world's madness. Until, that is, the arrival of the bully Skarit. Then everything changes, and what once was, is no longer so. Bad things can create friction between people; they can even create nightmares. But can they create anything good It proves a supreme test for Abbot Peter. And for those who have to live with him. Set under a burning sun in the middle of nowhere, Another Bloody Retreat is a book for any who have wished to break free and get away from it all. < Less

Love. You never know where you will find it. Or lose it. And though people often talk about it, you still may not be sure... More > what it is. They say it makes the world go round. It can also bring it to a standstill. It is delight, despair, the spring in your step, and the stone in your shoe.

So is it really all we need? Or the last thing? And if God is love, why are things so bad? Or will love make all things better?
‘The learning of love’ is at once humorous, spiky, and wondering. It is a small book of short scenes, sharp stories and dramatic thoughts around the theme of the hardest and most wonderful learning of all.

Simon Parke has written satire for radio and TV, picking up a Sony Radio Award. He was a priest in the Church of England for 20 years, and now works in a supermarket, where he is chair of the shop union. He writes, leads retreats and lives in London. < Less

The monastery of St James the Less is due for closure. It has sat in the Arabian desert for too long, apparently. But Abbot... More > Peter, sent to oversee its demise, isn't so sure. He finds strange life in this sanctuary for the desperate. So St James carries on; and as the battered make their way to its sun-baked door, it appears as just another refuge for those who seek retreat and withdrawal from the world's madness. Until, that is, the arrival of the bully Skarit. Then everything changes, and what once was, is no longer so. Bad things can create friction between people; they can even create nightmares. But can they create anything good? It proves a supreme test for Abbot Peter. And for those who have to live with him. Set under a burning sun in the middle of nowhere, Another Bloody Retreat is a book for any who have wished to break free and get away from it all. < Less

The monastery of St James the Less is due for closure. It has sat in the Arabian desert for too long, apparently. But Abbot... More > Peter, sent to oversee its demise, isn't so sure. He finds strange life in this sanctuary for the desperate. So St James carries on; and as the battered make their way to its sun-baked door, it appears as just another refuge for those who seek retreat and withdrawal from the world's madness. Until, that is, the arrival of the bully Skarit. Then everything changes, and what once was, is no longer so. Bad things can create friction between people; they can even create nightmares. But can they create anything good? It proves a supreme test for Abbot Peter. And for those who have to live with him. Set under a burning sun in the middle of nowhere, Another Bloody Retreat is a book for any who have wished to break free and get away from it all. < Less

Love. You never know where you will find it. Or lose it. And though people often talk about it, you still may not be sure... More > what it is. They say it makes the world go round. It can also bring it to a standstill. It is delight, despair, the spring in your step, and the stone in your shoe.

So is it really all we need? Or the last thing? And if God is love, why are things so bad? Or will love make all things better?
‘The learning of love’ is at once humorous, spiky, and wondering. It is a small book of short scenes, sharp stories and dramatic thoughts around the theme of the hardest and most wonderful learning of all.

Simon Parke has written satire for radio and TV, picking up a Sony Radio Award. He was a priest in the Church of England for 20 years, and now works in a supermarket, where he is chair of the shop union. He writes, leads retreats and lives in London. < Less