How far could they go? On the one hand there was the traditional Catholic Church, on the other the siren call of the permissive society. And with the advent of COC (Catholics for an Open Church), the appearance of the pill and the disappearance of hell, it was difficult for Polly, Dennis, Angela, Adrian and the others not to rupture their spiritual virginity on their way from the fifties to the seventies. How far did they go? Find out in this razor-sharp novel ablaze with mordant insight and comic despair. 'Brilliant and intricate black comedy' - Time Out. 'Huge, bitterly funny and superbly presented montage of the false nostrums that assailed Christianity like worms' - Sunday Times. 'Hilarious ... a magnificent book' - Graham Greene. 'Funny, sad, knowledgeable' - Irish Times. WINNER OF THE WHITBREAD BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD