An unpredictable socio-comic novel with serious overtones, and implications, set in middle England. Current contentious issues within the Catholic Church are addressed. Derek Postlethwaite, a dreamy, imaginative nine year old Catholic boy, who has to cope with his mother's death, puberty, and his erotic fantasies. A subconscious part of him still thirsts for maternal comforts, which represent the love he has lost. The novel's eclectic characters encroach frequently into the most unlikely events of his young life, which sometimes leaves him agonized and embarrassed.