Told by an idiot

A bustling Victorian household is thrown into uncertainty when the family’s patriarch, a clergyman with an ever‑shifting faith, announces yet another departure from the church. His six adult children—each with distinct personalities and aspirations—react with a blend of satire, worry, and dry humor, exposing the tensions between duty, belief, and the social expectations of the era. As they prepare to leave their familiar vicarage for an Ethical Society in London, the siblings grapple with questions of identity, loyalty, and the strange allure of a creed without creeds.

The novel unfolds through witty dialogue and vivid portraits of a family caught in the cross‑currents of religious doubt and Victorian propriety. Its narrator, an unreliable “idiot,” offers a wry, observational lens that both softens and sharpens the drama. Readers are invited to linger over the lively banter, the subtle critiques of faith, and the bittersweet anticipation of a new chapter in the Gardens’ ever‑changing lives.