Nothing Purple, Nothing Black

“Nothing Purple, Nothing Black is an unusual, and unusually promising first novel. It's an intriguing, topical story, and Paul Crawford tells it with passion, wit, and a boldly metaphorical style.” — David Lodge

“Nothing Purple, Nothing Black draws you in and holds you suspended. A psychologically powerful study.” — Roy Porter

“Written with wit and a strong feeling for his protagonists … Crawford’s fictional debut is impressive, and his depiction of the “mad and the sane” sharing “the same bathwater of life” lingers in the mind long after you turn the final page.” — Paul Sayer

“I really enjoyed it … it is very well plotted … it is humane and somehow tender” — Sara Maitland

“No other novel explores the painful dilemmas of the vow of chastity as this one does. Anyone who wants to know about the state of the Catholic Church, both from inside and out, must read Nothing Purple, Nothing Black.” — Dr Anthony Daniels (Theodore Dalrymple)

“This is a very powerful and touching novel in which the two worlds of the church and the laity are so well portrayed and poetically united. Crawford merges Graham Greene and Patrick Hamilton into the best of both—an obsessive internal landscape set against a murky dusk of a deadly town and a railway station going no-where.” — Stephen Lowe

“Paul Crawford has written with clarity and chastity about the anguish of institutional celibacy … The desperate loneliness of the isolated priest is conveyed with Greene-like insight. A parallel theme is the alienation of the insane … Delusions, hallucinations and compulsions are vividly portrayed. There is no idealisation of the deranged—madness and its expectations are depicted with an insider’s knowledge.” — Dr Maurice Lipsedge, Emeritus Consultant

“Three bizarre lives become intertwined in this strange and intriguing tale: Harvey, a bishop with carnal yearnings, Crystal, a psychotic tramp, and Olwyn, the object of Harvey's yearning. Cleverly told with some touches of black humour, an unexpected finale and not a moment of boredom—I found it a great read.” — Rula Lenska, British actor