2 stars for this novel set in an Anglican training college for clergy; unfortunately I found this a really disappointing read.

The story is narrated by Kitty Bolton, a mildly repellent woman of about fifty, as she looks back on the death of fellow Littlemore College ordinand Evie some 25 years previously. Kitty holds a PhD, and makes sure that the reader knows it: we are constantly informed of her intelligence, which she seems to try to prove through the copious use of commas.

There is some amusement to be had in Kitty’s snobbery but this wears off fairly quickly, and her hatred of her working-class childhood and parents leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. Again, at times I quite enjoyed Kitty’s lack of self-awareness – for example she seems to forget she is a middle-aged woman herself in her dismissal of other women as mumsy, matronly, or Aga-bound – but once again her spite curdles the fun: ‘a whole swathe of plump, middle-aged women with undyed hair called things like Audrey and Jeanette. We christened them the pastoral vampires because they instinctively sensed other people’s vulnerabilities and fed on them in a mumsy way’.

More problematically, this reduction to caricature extends to main characters too. The writer portrays Kitty as so self-absorbed that she is unable to see or demonstrate any depth in her friends Evie, Charlotte, Ivo, Piers and to a lesser extent Richard – but this leaves the reader (this reader at any rate) indifferent to their lives. In fact, I confused Ivo and Piers throughout the book as they were completely interchangeable to me.

It must be fun, I imagine, to create an unlikeable narrator but I felt I was reading someone overwordy and dull (Russell Brand sprang to mind) – a pity, especially given the novel’s setting. I would have enjoyed reading more about the early years of women vicars, and learning something about the world of high Anglicanism that seems to smudge into catholicism.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

Kitty has managed to escape from her working class background & has earned a PhD in Medieval Christianity. Now she is attending Littlemore College near Oxford to train for the priesthood. From the start she is determined to fit in with the charismatic group of students who are part of Professor Loewe's favoured group of students. From the start we know she is telling the story from a future perspective & that the death of one of their group had a huge impact on them.

I find it really hard to review this book. The characters were all pretty nasty & the fact that they were supposedly the best & brightest of the Anglican church were pretty depressing. The book was well written & captured the claustrophobic environment of the college but at the end I couldn't say I really enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I very much enjoyed what I read but for some reason was only sent a sample not the full book. I did query it with Netgalley and the publisher but had no answer from either.

The Gospel of Eve tells the story of a group of six ordinands studying at Littlemore College. The main character is Catherine, known as Kitty and her relationship with Evie. Their Professor Albertus Loewe takes a select group under his wing and introduces them to his collection of old books. To deepen their faith, they begin experimenting with ancient practices such as praying naked, inflicting pain and wearing a chalice.
The story starts with tragedy, with Kitty discovering her friend Evie hanging in the chapel. The tale unfolds as a long confessional, revealing obsessions with medieval mysticism, lust, love and betrayal between Kitty and Evie and their fellow ordinands Ivo, Charlie, Richard and Piers.
This is such a dark, compelling story - full of mystery, horror, wonder and longing. A compelling read.

An intriguing and unusual book. Not an easy read for me, possibly due to the references to medieval manuscripts, religious practices and unexpected relationship developments.

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It was intriguing and interesting and kept me reading to the end but made me feel uneasy and sad. I think perhaps this is the cleverness of the book speaking into my own anxiety rather than anything else.
It is well written and the topics of clique, division and belonging are well explored. The style of recount several decades after the event takes the heat out of the narrative without diluting its impact.
The characters are intriguing, and beguiling. They are all deeply flawed in their own ways, which makes them real but not necessarily likeable.
This was a good rad, intriguing and interesting but didn't leave me wanting any more.

When I first saw this title - I was expecting something else! I couldn't seem to get into this book at all and I tried a few times. After writing my MA dissertation on Lilith - I assumed this would be providing an account from the perspective of Eve.

The story concerns a young woman who is embarking upon priesthood and then begins a lesbian relationship with one of her fellow ordinands. I think Mann is trying to point to the feminist side of the Anglican church which is an admirable task but I just couldn't find a connection to the characters. I found that the chapters dragged on and it was difficult to engage with the text. I started and stopped it several times and then just had to give up.

Her writing style reminds me of A Secret History - so for fans of that - I would defo recommend this. It also seems as though the novel has been researched well - but I think the content wasn't for me! I appreciate the rebellious nature of her characters but not enough to become invested.

I would definitely read something else by this author but for now I will have to metaphorically shelf this book and return to it at a later stage.

Thank you to #Net Galley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to the author, publishers and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
This is a very well written book, I enjoyed it enormously. It's the complex story of a group of ordinands who attend a Church of England seminary. It's not for the faint hearted, and it takes you on a journey that you may sometimes wish you could close your eyes and not take part in!
I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.

Kitty has recently arrived at Littlemore College for ordination training. She’s well qualified with a PhD in Medieval Christianity and keen to learn and make connections with other ordinands so that she can fit in with the right crowd.

The story starts with tragedy, with Kitty discovering her friend Evie hanging in the chapel. The story unfolds, in part as a long confessional, revealing obsessions with medieval mysticism, lust, love and betrayal between Kitty and Evie and their fellow ordinands Ivo, Charlie, Richard and Piers.

The description of Littlemore, settled on the edge of Oxford is fantastic and evocative, as are the trips into the wider Oxfordshire countryside.

I really enjoyed the read and was gripped by the plot, the characters, the intellectualism, and the history and theology weaved throughout the book. Whilst it is reminiscent of Donna Tartt’s A Secret History, I found The Gospel of Eve far more compelling and engaging.

Amazing. Poignant. Sad. Blew me away with its depth, history and the twists, turns and lies that close friendships are built on. Not for the feint hearted but romps through medieval Christian history as a backdrop to blackness, death and betrayal with beauty and an understanding of what truth is at the heart of it all. Five stars.

The Gospel of Eve tells the story of a group of six ordinands studying at Littlemore College. The story is based around Catherine, known as Kitty and her relationship with Eve. Professor Albertus Loewe takes the group under his wing and introduces them to his collection of old books. To deepen their faith, they begin experimenting with ancient practices such as praying naked, inflicting pain and wearing a chalice.

I found it a gripping and thought-provoking read . The author's writing was engaging and I felt invested in the well-painted characters. My only criticism was that it didn't seem to paint Christianity in a positive light. Given that it was a theological college, it would have been good to have that. Having said that, Rachel Mann has done a great job of exploring the darker side of their faith /college journey. The dynamics of the friendship group were particularly interesting with Kitty often left out and also her relationship with Evie. The ending was well thought out and gave a nice sense of closure.

Thanks indeed to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

A literary suspense novel which beautifully captures the intense atmosphere that can develop in residential settings. Lots of interesting snippets about Medievalism and women in the church. It could have done with a bit less foreshadowing, which got repetitive and sets the bar (too?) high for the big reveal.

I wasn't entirely convinced by the plot (can't say why without spoilers) or the obsessions of the group, who seem entirely detached from the world of Blair and Britpop. Having said that, I wouldn't have believed that a group like the Bullingdon Club could have existed in the 80s, and now we're all under their yoke!

The setting for this story is Littlemore College for aspiring priests. The narrator is Kitty, who is a skilled academic, focusing on the medieval period but she lacks social skills. When she meets Evie, Richard, Charlie, Piers and Ivo she is desperate to join their circle.
However the group are not as straight forward as they appear and as Kitty slowly learns their secrets she realises that there are dangers in getting too entangled with the group.
The book made me think; about how the world would look if The Gospel of Eve had existed when the Christian Church began. I also learnt some new words.

Once again I feel like I'm the opposing voice and always feel really bad for being it but I really didn't enjoy this.

I started reading it several times and stopped. The opening chapters I found very jarring but when I got through them...I enjoyed the introduction to Littlemore.

However that didn't last.....there isn't much I can say without spoilers but I disliked all the characters and all of their actions throughout the story....I think I needed one character to empathise with or at least like to pull me in but there wasn't a single character...I would go as far as to say I detested them...which I suppose is good....the book did invoke strong feelings.

Rachel Mann's writing was very beautiful and her storyline researched heavily which I appreciated and will be definitely looking forward to reading more by this very talented author but this novel is not one I could get on board with at all unfortunately.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ever since Donna Tartt burst on the literary scene with The Secret History, any novel featuring a closely-knit, secretive group of students is inevitably compared to Tartt’s darkly brilliant debut. The Gospel of Eve, by Rachel Mann, is no exception. However, for once, the comparisons are both justified and well-deserved. Mann’s debut stands out from the competition in not being set in just any other school or university, but in Littlemore College, an Anglican seminary just outside Oxford where ordinands prepare to become priests. The events described take place in 1997 (there is a reference to the funeral of Princess Diana) at a time when women had just been accepted to the Anglican priesthood.

The novel starts in medias res, with the narrator Catherine “Kitty” Bolton discovering Evie – her fellow ordinand, friend and erstwhile lover – hanging from “a low beam in the chapel…the weak January light [bleeding] through the East Window giving her body a ghostly glow”. More than two decades later, and now a respected priest “the best part of fifty”, Kitty revisits the circumstances leading to the death of Evie. This tragedy is linked to an exclusive group of students whom Kitty and Evie frequented at the college, all of whom were “disciples” of Professor Albertus Loewe. Loewe is conservative in approach, but encourages his students’ enthusiasm for the Middle Ages, even when it ventures into dubious and dangerous territory.

The Gospel of Eve is a Gothic delight, its plot made up of dark twists and turns. One can imagine Mann with a twinkle in her eye, having her narrator repeatedly hinting at mysteries which will be revealed – Kitty is, of course, recounting the story with the benefit of hindsight, whereas we readers are made painfully aware that we are yet to be initiated into the protagonist’s dark knowledge. Suffice it to say that the word “secret” is used twenty-nine times in the novel (I checked on Kindle…), and Mann does a great job at building a twilit atmosphere heavy with the smell of old manuscripts brimming with esoteric knowledge. Indeed, I was also reminded of Eco’s The Name of the Rose, not least because of the novel’s erudite references: in case you were wondering, The Gospel of Eve really existed, as did other rare books mentioned.

Beyond the naughty fun (by the end we’re edging towards grand guignol), Rachel Mann, an Anglican priest and theologian, delves into serious themes and concerns: such as the nature of faith and vocation, the thin line which divides sainthood from obsession, and how essentially good people can turn into misguided monsters and abusers. Kitty is herself a symbol of this ambivalence. Despite bearing the scars of the horrific events at Littlemore, she refuses to renounce to her memories of what was, in some ways, the best time of her life. The Gospel of Eve can be read as the guilty confession of a person who sees herself as both victim and abuser, a tragic figure worthy of classic Gothic literature.

A fascinating, thought provoking and well written story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I liked the style of writing and the character development.
The setting is vivid and well described, the characters are interesting and the plot flows.
It's an engaging read that I recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine