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St Mary's Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney

St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Carden Place, Aberdeen

Pro-Cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney

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Book Review

16/10/2021 by Nicola Mills

Phoebe, by Paula Gooder: Gooder’s academic works on Christianity, particularly on the New Testament, are noted for their friendly, approachable tone and this comes into its own here in a novelised version of the visit of Phoebe, a wealthy deacon mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Romans, to Rome. Gooder invents her story but places it in her own scholarly studies of the Roman world at the time and peoples it with likeable, interesting, essentially human characters. Perhaps not a natural novelist, Gooder nevertheless tells a good story with charm. The last 30% of the book – in which, in fact, Gooder is quite happy to admit that she is not a novelist – gives a quantity of fascinating background information and scholarly sources on which she based her story. 

Filed Under: Book and Film Reviews, Harvest 2021, Magazine

St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Carden Place, Aberdeen AB10 1UN
Email: office@stmaryscardenplace.org.uk   |   Tel: 01224 561383

St Mary's Episcopal Church is a registered Charity in Scotland: Charity No SC014062   |   Copyright © 2023

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