A middle-aged art restorer and . . . . a nun? If Kate O'Riordan wasn't such a good writer, this upbeat romance, set partly in a shelter for homeless men, partly on a riverside houseboat and partly in a remote Cork farmstead, would be a serious pain in the ass.

Instead, provided you can get past the rather protracted and - at the time - inexplicably tense opening scenes, accept the presence of a Mother Superior with a heart of gold and the foulest tongue in central London and aren't likely to get heartburn at the idea of swallowing an angelic central character called, well, Angela, it's a slice of reading heaven. Caught between a battalion of devout aunts and a bunch of streetwise nuns, the same Angela is headed for her final vows when she meets Robert - and the series of mutual misunderstandings which results is, quite simply, a divine comedy.