[Judgement Day is about decay]. Set in a credible modern (i.e., socially heterogenous) English village, it chronicles the impact which the arrival of an intelligent young couple has on the circle of dead-heads who manage the affairs of the local church. The focus of the action is a fund-raising project designed to provide the kind of cash needed to restore the ancient fabric.

That this project has a rather ambiguous conclusion is neither here nor there, for Ms Lively's quarry is really the forces of change in British society and their differential impact on different age groups and social strata….

Judgement Day is an impressive piece of work, sharp and surefooted on the nuances of class and of personal conflict. Choosing a modern village … was a good stratagem, not only because it provides a natural stage, but also because the fissiparous villagers attain a fragile unity whenever...