So when I did get it I dived in eagerly. I was expecting a story about the deep history of Britain, its myths and characters who exerted a profound influence on our later collective psyche. I got those in a story rich in myth, characterisation and history. The story is told by each of the two main characters in their own distinctive voice.

Joseph of Arimethea, known as Eosaidh in the book, comes to England in his job as a trader and traveller and meets Vivian, the High Priestess of the Goddess at Avalon. Their meeting has a profound effect on them both and this story begins when Joseph, ready to cease from his travelling, comes to end his life in the West Country. Here he encounters Vivian again and their story of love and honour unfolds in the context of the ending of one world and the dawn of another as the Romans invade and change England forever.

Like all good stories once begun I could not put it down , it drew me in and I wanted to know what happened. But more than that it surprised and even shocked me. Even in the compulsion of wanting to know what happened I had to pause, to wait as if for breath and let the story happen to me before continuing.

Vivian describes the land, my land as only a priestess can and I am drawn to see and feel things locked deep in my memory that I had forgotten I remembered. Mud between the toes, darkness, real darkness of the sky at night and the sounds and touch of the marsh, of water and of the land. It is not the description of the land it is the gift of the land.

There is more - as she shows Eosaidh the difference between men and women my eyes are opened and my breath hurts. I am given a secret which has been before me all my life that until now I have never seen so clearly.

Eosaidh's response is authentic and honourable in a new deeper sense of the word that goes beyond our normal usage. I hear his voice, feel the turbulence in his heart, and the deep longings of his soul as if they were mine.

The book gives me more than a wonderful story. Today I looked at the land and the people I live with differently. That is a gift worth reading for.

Is it a novel? Is it a theological treatise? Is it myth reworked? Well… yes, yes and yes. It’s a bumblebee too. You know – theoretically the bee’s body is too heavy for its wings, making it unable to fly. However, the bee doesn’t know it’s aerodynamically unsound, and it manages to fly very nicely, thank you. The weight of theology and philosophy in The Apple and the Thorn ought to keep it mired on the ground, but somehow it manages to fly right up there alongside the bumblebee. (And produces some fine honey too.)

The two main characters in the story are Joseph of Arimathea (called Eosaidh in the book), and Vivian, the Lady of the Lake. The narration moves from one to the other and begins as Eosaidh arrives in Avalon, fifteen years after his great-nephew was crucified in Jerusalem. Eosaidh settles on what is now Wearyall Hill, and meets his old friend Vivian once more. They seek to understand each other’s spirituality, exploring their very different beliefs about the divine, about male and female, light and dark, the outer and the inner worlds, and the importance of the land itself. Often they misunderstand each other, but there is always liking and respect between them, and before long they have become lovers.

The peaceful idyll is shattered with the arrival of strangers who lay claim to twelve hides of Avalon’s sacred land. They are converts to the new Christian cult, and they see the Lady and her people as sorceresses and demons. Hot on their heels are the pragmatic Romans who seek only to quell rebellion and seize the wealth and resources of the land. Eosaidh’s loyalties are torn in many directions and the love that he and Vivian share is tested to the limit.

Reading The Apple and the Thorn was a delightful experience for me. As I neared the end, I read ever more slowly, wanting to postpone for as long as possible the moment of our separation. I knew how it would end, but the tears are still on my cheeks as I write.