1965 Charles Ashworth, Bishop of Starbridge, 'purrs along as effortlessly as his Rolls-Royce' proclaiming 'absolute truths' to a society he sees as increasingly immoral and disordered Then catastrophe tears his life apart, confronting him with real absolute truths which strip him of his pride and leave him struggling for survival This leads to a quest to rebuild his personal and professional life, winning him both personal happiness and new understanding of the absolute truths of human existence