Subtitled "A Memoir of Brian Cleeve", "Faithful Servant" is penned by a self-confessed follower of the writer after his life-changing spiritual experience. The book is written in two distinct sections, the first and by far the longer covering the undoubtedly interesting life of the writer and broadcaster who was involved in the early years of television in Ireland. Born in England to a branch of the family which made Cleeve's toffee famous, Brian was initially brought up by his grandparents after the early death of his mother. His father spent the rest of his life, and three marriages, unsuccessfully trying to replicate the happiness he had experienced with his first wife. This resulted in the fragmentation of the family and the young Brian's early departure to a boarding school.

Displaying a spiritual dimension from an early age, Brian joined and later left the Catholic Church, married a Dublin woman and had two daughters, and built a career around the writing of novels, plays and short stories, as well as presenting a number of RTE shows. He and Veronica experienced both poverty and plenty, the latter from the judicious purchase of Dublin property, and their life had settled into a comfortable period when, in 1977 at the age of sixty-five, Brian had an epiphany. In his own words, "I became aware of a presence, invisible, intangible, but real, that wished to communicate with me". The writer identified this presence as that of God, and devoted the rest of his life to serving God. The changes this wrought in his day to day life did not sit well with the life his wife was expecting to enjoy, and his interior life was to drive a wedge between the two that, for Veronica, soured the final years of their marriage.

The final chapters of this biography concern the author's interaction with Brian Cleeve; Jim Bruce was one of a relatively confined number who responded positively to his two spiritual books, "The House on the Rock" and "The Fourth Mary". He credits Cleeve's "absolute faith in God and piercing intelligence" for their contribution to helping him in the darker moments of his life. Written with undoubted affection, "Faithful Servant" conveys an image of a man engaged in a lifelong search who, when that search ends, lives his life quietly, helping as many people as he can but at no time aggressively trying to persuade others to follow his lead.

(Lulu, ISBN 978-1-84753-064-6, pp280, £12.12/$22.00)

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