description: In a small Scottish parish, an English priest is stalked by the fear of scandal, class hatred and lost ideals. Over the spring and summer of 2003, Father David becomes friends with two young people, Mark and by the year's end his life is the focus of public hysteria. As he looks back to his childhood and to Oxford in the fever of student revolt, Father David begins to reconsider the central events of his life, and to see what may have happened to the political hopes of his generation. Meanwhile, religious warfare breaks out on his doorstep.
language: English
title: Be Near Me
titlecomplete: Be Near Me (Advance Reading Copy)
characters: Mrs. Poole, Mark, Connor, David Anderton
genres: Fiction, Ireland, Religion, British Literature, LGBT, Scotland, Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Gay
ratings_count: 1131
places: Scotland
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Booker Prize
category: Longlist, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Fiction
publisher: Faber and Faber