Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt

A powerful memoir about faith and doubt, with a strong meditative and philosophical heart

At the tender age of 14, Richard Holloway left his home town of Alexandria, north of Glasgow, and traveled hundreds of miles to be educated and trained for the priesthood at an English monastery. By the age of 25 he had been ordained and was working in the slums of Glasgow. Through the 40 years that followed, Richard touched the lives of many people as he rose to one of the highest positions in the Anglican Church. But behind his confident public faith lay a restless heart and an inquisitive mind. How can anyone claim a complete understanding of the mystery of existence? Why is the church, which claims to be the instrument of God's love, so prone to cruelty and condemnation? How can a man live with the tension between public faith and private doubt? Poignant, wise, and fiercely honest, this is a remarkable memoir of a life defined by faith but plagued by doubt.