A young man's journey from war to ordination.

What I like about the Grantchester mysteries is the interaction between vicar/detective Sidney Chambers and his colleagues, friends and family as much as the mysteries themselves. This book also delivers that but in a different way. The growing love between Amanda Kendall and Sidney at first takes a minor role, increasing in importance as the story unfolds and Sidney dithers about declaring his love. The first quarter of the book is about Sidney's horrific experiences in Italy as a Captain in the Scots Guards in WWII. It contains graphic descriptions of atrocities on both sides, so is not for the squeamish. Its poignancy lies in the flashbacks to Sidney's pre-war days of study, leisure and family expectations.

Post-war, Sidney is keeping a dark secret. His war experiences have a devastating effect on him and also his friends and family, who worry about his state of mind. Many pages are given to Sidney's thought processes and the gradual realisation that he has been called to God. This is enlivened by descriptions of Sidney's social life. Particularly amusing is his friend and fellow ex-soldier, Freddie, who gives welcome moments of light relief. It is when solving an unexplained death connected with Freddie that we see Sidney developing the problem-solving skills used in the Grantchester novels. His pastoral care skills once he is ordained are also sensitively portrayed. This is a multi-layered book with underlying themes of bright social life, cricket and the varying reactions of Sidney's family and friends to his life-changing decision to become a priest. There is a satisfying ending, full of hope after the sorrows of war. The real reason why Amanda and Sidney do not marry young is finally revealed. worth persevering with. For fans of the Grantchester novels, Sebastian Faulks and Pat Barker.

I haven’t read any of the Grantchester mystery books or seen the TV series so came to this story completely fresh. In fact, if I didn’t know this was a prequel to those books I wouldn’t have guessed that solving mysteries was the way Sidney’s career would progress. This one stands alone perfectly.

This is a thoughtful and moving portrayal of a young man’s experience of war, loss and guilt, and the struggle he has to find a purpose to his life afterwards. I’d read one of James Runcie’s books before, ‘East Fortune’, and knew that his strength lay in creating engaging, believable characters so it was no surprise to find myself immediately immersed in Sidney’s story, his relationships with his childhood friend Robert, with Robert’s sister Amanda (and their family) and with school friend and wartime comrade Freddie. I do hope these continue into the later books and am tempted to embark on the series just to find out how things turn out for these two.

Just as important, of course, is Sidney’s relationship with God. I was completely caught up in his doubts and fears while coming to the decision to become a clergyman - a process that takes him the bulk of the second half of the book - and the effect this has on his friendships, particularly with Amanda. Sensitively written.

A really satisfying read that I’d recommend highly.

This book gives you an idea of what it was like in the past. The book is based in the 1950’s. An interesting read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC.
I was a huge fan of the TV series and found this prequel to Stanley arriving in Grantchester absolutely captivating. It is so well-written and obviously extensively researched. I just loved it. The author has captured so vividly the atmosphere and the hardships of fighting from the trenches in WW2 Italy; the friendships made and subsequently maintained, as well as the grief and loss experienced. Stanley's subsequent questioning of his purpose in life is sensitive and thought-provoking - hence his Road to Grantchester.. Weaving in and out of the steps he takes is Amanda, his best friend's sister, their relationship and Stanley's secret guilt. The whole story flowed really well.

As a fan of the TV series I was looking forward to reading this book. It gave a great insight to the war that Sydney suffered and an interesting preview of his life beforehand. A great interesting story.

As a huge fan of James Runcie's work and having read the Grantchester Mysteries series of books - a series of cosy crime novels set near Cambridge from the 1950s - I was very keen to read a prequel to some of those mysteries.

In the Grantchester Mysteries books, Canon Sidney Chambers solves crimes in the vein of Father Brown (who was operating in the closely named Chesterton) - both amateur detectives who have the trust of the local community but are often at odds with the constabulary, most likely because the men of the cloth tend to show up the men in blue.

Alongside his work with parishioners and his crime-solving, Sidney Chambers also has to contend with his own amorous feelings and the conflict of emotions for his friend Amanda Kendall and how that sits with his vocation and early in the series, his feelings for another paramour - Hildegaard.

Reading The Road to Grantchester, we get more of Sidney's background and the reasons he became a religious man. We also get the background to his connection with the Kendall family and more specifically, with Amanda's brother Freddie.

There is no doubt that Runcie is a masterful storyteller and the Second World War battles that take up the first third if the novel are very moving and descriptively filmic. They have clearly been well-researched. Having read the later books, a reader will also know how some of this turns out.

As much as I enjoyed the relationship aspects of the Grantchester series, my real focus was always on the mysteries of the novels and wondering how Sidney would solve them, along with his dog Dickens. Just as the relationship between Holmes and Watson is interesting, the real focus for me is on the mysteries and how Holmes solves them with Watson's help. So to that end, this book is very much for those who want more to the Amanda and Sidney story and for those readers who want to know more about why Sidney entered the clergy and why he might then take some of the decisions he takes in the later novels, as a result of events in this prequel.

Beautifully written, character-driven and illuminating, it's a very different beast to the cosy crime dramas of the series that follows.

With thanks to NetGalley, Bloomsbury Publishing and James Runcie for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.