INSIGHT INTO ANGUISH
By Melanie Metcalfe
Day One. 288 pages. £8.99
ISBN 1 903087 40 6
Sadly, this book is a gripping page-turner. This is not because it is incredibly well-written or has a cleverly-devised plot, but because the story that unfolds as the pages are turned is potentially horribly relevant to anyone involved in church youth work.
The story is told by the wife of youth leader Nick Metcalfe (pseudonyms are used throughout the book). Accused of raping and sexually assaulting three members of his youth group some eight or nine years previously and arrested from his family home early one morning, there begins a harrowing tale of how he and his family embark on living with these serious charges and riding the legal roller-coaster ride to proving his innocence.