The 'Nunc Dimittis', set to music by composers from Tallis to Rachmaninov, is one of the great canticles of Christianity and is heard daily in Britain's cathedrals. It is based on ten verses in St Luke's Gospel. They relate the tale of Simeon, an old man who was told he would not die before he saw the Messiah. He waited and waited at the Temple in Jerusalem. At last he saw the infant Jesus. At that moment he cried, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation'. Simeon was at last able to surrender his life.

Who was Simeon? Why did he wait? And how did the month-old Jesus escape King Herod's infamous massacre of the infants? The Bible does not say.

Quentin Letts's quirky, affectionate Nunc! tries to put that right. It takes the reader to the occupied Jerusalem of Herod the Great, the puppet ruler whose Temple was a wonder of the ancient world. The action centres on Jerusalem's Deuteronomy Square where Simeon's old army friend Reuben runs a tea stall selling heavenly honey cakes and fig bread. We meet Bildad the beekeeper whose hive goes missing; grocer's boy Benjamin, owner of a mule and cart that might act as a getaway vehicle; the drawlingly subversive Zillah, whose political salon lends her influence; and Simeon's long-suffering landlady Noor. Deuteronomy Square's plucky regulars must endure not only the bawling of a power-mad Roman centurion, Lucilius, but also the more snivelly authoritarianism of Kedar, the city's clerk of works.

About the Author
Quentin Letts is political sketch writer for The Times and theatre critic for the Sunday Times. A regular broadcaster on radio and television, he was formerly New York correspondent for The Times, gossip columnist for the Daily Telegraph and parliamentary sketch writer for the Daily Mail. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller 50 People Who Buggered Up Britain. His hobbies are gossip, hymn-singing and cricket. He lives in rural Herefordshire.

Reviews
A rollicking satire that emits flashes of real brilliance * Daily Mail *
Heartfelt * The Times *
Letts can be as funny as P.G. Wodehouse, but there's real poignancy running through this story * Tablet, Novel of the week *
The characters are quirky and delicious. The settings are colourful . . . An adorable book, 6 stars; a real pleasure to read * Historical Novel Society *
Beneath the warmth and amusing tales, Letts gives many very profound insights into the nature of love, loss, and accepting death. He writes beautifully * Church Times *
Mine eyes have just read the best novel of the year. Quentin Letts' Nunc! is a beautiful, moving and funny exploration of life, death and first century Jewish cuisine * Seen & Unseen *



Book Information
ISBN 9781408722855
Author Quentin Letts
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Constable
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 220g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 126mm * 24mm