A tender and elegant novel, almost wistful for a time that was passing as it was being lived.
The narrator, Tom Birkin, reflects on a summer spent in the small Yorkshire village of Oxgodby in 1920. Near destitute and still visibly shaken by his experiences during the first world war and through the painful break-up of his marriage, he has been assigned the job of restoring a medieval mural hidden beneath whitewash on the wall of the village church.
At just over 100 pages, it's a slight thing, but perfect.