Skellig is a novel whose eponymous protagonist lives in a garage, eats aspirin and Chinese take away, all washed down with  brown ale.

He is also an arthritic angel who just might  be an owl.

 He is ‘found’one sunday afternoon  behind several tea chests, covered in dust and offers a much needed diversion for the narrator Michael from the hospital visits to his chronicallly sick baby sister.

I found it one of the most affecting novels I have ever read and one of the most  real. Its magical exploration of faith and care  creates a very special world, one which I  think everyone should read at least once a year!

‘We had our arms around him.Our fingers touched behind his back. We explored the growths upon his shoulder blades. We felt them like folded up arms. We felt their soft coverings. We stared into each other’s eyes and didn’t dare to tell each other what we really felt.

‘Extraordinary , extraordinary being,’ whispered Mina.

Persephone is redrawn.

Imagination can give us soul!