Alice's father William is a part-time arsonist,rejected husband, ladies' man, fraudster - and a very devoted father. Mother Oonagh has led her children to the true religion of the Unbelievable Potential of Human Beings, which promises immortality, paradise - and interpersonal relations with intergalactic beings. Brother Peter is a deacon in the Church: for him, The Plain Truth just is,like marmalade or the Grand Canyon. But Alice is faltering. She's losing the knack of living forever...

Alice's father William is a part-time arsonist,rejected husband, ladies' man, fraudster - and a very devoted father. Mother Oonagh has led her children to the true religion of the Unbelievable Potential of Human Beings, which promises immortality, paradise - and interpersonal relations with intergalactic beings. Brother Peter is a deacon in the Church: for him, The Plain Truth just is,like marmalade or the Grand Canyon. But Alice is faltering. She's losing the knack of living forever.

Struggling with loyalty to her father, increasing doubt about the Church's continually shifting doctrine, not to mention the exacting art of fornication, Alice searches for answers. Is life on earth really just a pornographic reality show for fallen angels? How can she have a brain and still believe? But if she gives up now, it's bound to turn out to be true.

In this intricate and satisfying debut, lulie Maxwellwrites with dry, dark humour, wit and intelligenceabout sex and the sect and the heart of darkness.