River Grove Community Church voted out elder Ollie Fulborne, who was under suspicion of heresy and of sexually harassing a young teenage girl. But Ollie had been the driving force behind the church. Two years later, with numbers dwindling and church debt piling up, the people are considering allowing him to return to his former authority. Church member Hila Grant is dead set against his return.River Grove Community Church voted out elder Ollie Fulborne, who was under suspicion of heresy and of sexually harassing a young teenage girl. But Ollie had been the driving force behind the church. Now, two years later, with numbers dwindling and church debt piling up, the people are considering allowing him to return to his former authority. Church member Hila Grant is dead set against Ollie’s return. This intelligent, lovely, and remote twenty-eight year old is willing to use even questionable methods to remind the congregation of his record and rouse them against him. Will her efforts be wasted, or will she be—in some sense—a Godsend?

Alan and Kate Marlowe are a typical, loving, middle-class couple, with four small children. But they wish they had just one more, a beautiful baby daughter. So when a strange young woman abandons her infant at their house, they view it as a blessing—a godsend—and adopt little Bonnie as their own. But not long after Bonnie's arrival, terrible things begin to happen to the Marlowes, starting with the death of their son Matthew. As the tragedies mount, Alan suspects that Bonnie is somehow responsible. Is he losing his grip on sanity? After all, surely this angelic child could not be responsible for such horrors . . . ? The classic first novel by Bernard Taylor, The Godsend (1976) earned widespread critical acclaim on its initial publication and was the basis for a 1980 film. This edition features a new introduction by Mary Danby. Taylor's chilling novels Sweetheart, Sweetheart and The Moorstone Sickness are also available from Valancourt.