BESTSELLING author and journalist Quentin Letts will be giving a talk about his brilliant and moving new novel, Nunc!

Quentin's quirky, affectionate story time-slips from present day to the occupied Jerusalem of Herod the Great in the 1st century BC, with the heart of the action around Deuteronomy Square – a place of dubious stall keepers, treacherous politicians, power-mad Roman centurions and snivelling civil servants.

Think Life of Brian meets Don Camillo. It’s a modern twist on one of the greatest (yet under looked) narratives in Christianity, the 'Nunc Dimittis' – one of the most exceptional hymns based on ten verses in St Luke's Gospel.

The talk will be held at St Mary’s Church in Ross-on-Wye, on 24 April from 7pm. The event is in partnership with Rossiter Books.

Quentin was inspired to write the book as a reaction to the recent death of two siblings – in the ancient tale of Simeon he saw parallels with the loss of his own brother to cancer; it inspired him to use Nunc! as a modern framing device for discussing grief and coming to terms with loss.

The book was recently launched at How Caple Church and featured in a recent edition of the Ross Gazette.

The 'Nunc Dimittis' 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.

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.