New feature: Friday Recommends

So, I've been thinking of a way that I can post each week to share with all of my wonderful readers, books that I would sincerely recommend reading!
Working in a bookshop makes it really easy for me to share my love of books with our customers, but outside of work it's harder for me to tell others of all the wonderful novels I've read over the years - so this is where Friday Recommends will come in.

Let me know in the comments what you think about this new feature, and what you think of the book I've chosen for this week - if you've read it, or have now added it to your wishlist, or even if you have started reading it at my recommendation (these comments make me the happiest!). So here we go...


The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Waterstone's synopsis:
The nameless and beautiful narrator of "The Gargoyle" is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and wakes up in a burns ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned. His life is over - he is now a monster. But in fact it is only just beginning. One day, Marianne Engel, a wild and compelling sculptress of gargoyles, enters his life and tells him that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly burned mercenary and she was a nun and a scribe who nursed him back to health in the famed monastery of Engelthal. As she spins her tale, Scheherazade fashion, and relates equally mesmerising stories of deathless love in Japan, Greenland, Italy and England, he finds himself drawn back to life - and, finally, to love.

I read this book last year as a recommendation from a family friend, and I have to admit, I was very sceptical at first, but as always, I am willing to try anything! So I persevered and read it - I am so glad I did!
I think what I enjoyed the most about this novel was how enigmatic it is; the protagonist is never named, and so as we gradually get to know the character, we still don't really know who they are. And then of course, there is Marianne Engel; the enigma herself! She is a truly fantastic character - seemingly insane, but somehow beautifully enchanting, and almost believable, despite her somewhat extraordinary storytelling. As the protagonist nearly dies, she brings him back to life, and at the same time, bringing the novel to life as well!
The religious imagery in the novel is in no way overwhelming for a non-religious reader (such as myself), as I thought it might be, but rather fits snugly in with the plot and feels as though it belongs there - even enriches the book a little further.
A partially dark, but partially light and wonderful read, it will enchant you and warm you right to the heart! A definite must-read!