Evensong by Gail Godwin is a beautifully written, slow-moving novel. It is a book for readers who want to delve deep into the lives of realistic characters. This book is the sequel to Father Melancholy's Daughter which is the story of the daughter of an Episcopalian priest. In Evensong, Margaret has followed her now deceased father into a career as a priest. She has married an older man, Adrian, who was a friend of her father's and still idolizes the man. Daddy issues are a main theme throughout this novel, not only through Margaret, whose was raised by her father after her mother abandoned the family, but also through her husband, who was abandoned by his parents, and Chase, a young, troubled teenager whom Margaret and Adrian take into their home after he had difficulties in foster care.

As with Father Melancholy's Daughter, I loved the picture this novel paints of life inside a church. The people are real. Margaret deals with different opinions and personality issues as she works to create a safe environment for ritual and worship. She is also on-call at all hours for people who need religious counseling. We see the personal side of Margaret's life. There are issues with her marriage stemming from her husband's insecurities as well as an incident in her own history that should have been private but isn't.

One odd thing about this novel is that although it is a slow story it gets exciting as everything wraps up at the end. I would have preferred a an ending that fit the style of the rest of the book more appropriately but other than that Evensong is a great read.