new release | Published

And For You, Everything Matters

About the Book

The Blurb

An obscure narrator ‘writes a picture’ for an audience of one. By glancing into the lives of a particular family, a question is asked about what it means to live well in an ordinary world that is dark but equally full of wonder. And For You, Everything Matters is a story about a young woman, Jane, in psychological crisis; it is a portrait of a marriage that is loving, witty, and philosophically restless; and it is an extended meditation on how we think about mental suffering, grief, human connection, the natural world, hope, light.

Author’s Note

Why I Wrote This Book

As the story unfolded, the universally felt experiences of loss, grief and guilt became the central themes. But this was not only for persons, but for the almost unfathomable suffering of the natural world too.

However, I wanted this darkness to be written in the (re)discovery of the extraordinary in ordinary life.

The natural world and the family play a hugely important part of this context because I believe that for many of us, the infinite depth of this profound hope is known – even if in fleeting moments and even in a world that bears the weight of unspeakable pain – to be absolute; to be true; to be held in the event of love.

— Richard Noble

new release | Published

Alain Wolf's Endorsement

Dr. Alain J.E. Wolf, Honorary Research Fellow, University of East Anglia

Located in the home of the English novel of manners, this is a poetical hymn to family life with much tea-drinking and occasional scenes of risqué humour. The therapy sessions with hapless Dr Bridges were comedic and Noble’s sparkling language and meandering sentences had me laughing out loud; ‘why don’t we insist on things being beautiful?’ asks his patient and the ferocity of sacred winds ensues in a garden that desperately wants to be Eden regained.

I read the novel in one sitting carried along by the author’s poetic metonymic style as he turns his gentle humour on the complexities of domestic life. A real treat!

Reviews & Media

Reviews, Endorsements and Conversations

And For You, Everything Matters is a beautifully written and wonderfully observed novel about family, relationships and the complexities of everyday life. Richard Noble writes with warmth, wit and a wonderfully poetic style. There are moments of genuine humour alongside deeper reflections on love, identity and what makes a home. A thoughtful and thoroughly enjoyable read.

— Professor Emily Carter

Richard Noble has created a novel that is both charming and thought-provoking. The writing is full of personality, with sparkling observations and a gentle humour that makes the characters feel remarkably real. Beneath the comedy is a much deeper exploration of family life, relationships and the search for meaning. An unusual and memorable book.

— Dr. William Turner

A captivating and beautifully crafted story that combines literary humour with heartfelt reflections on domestic life. Noble’s distinctive writing style gives the novel a real sense of character, while the unexpected moments of humour keep the story lively and engaging. And For You, Everything Matters is a book that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading it.

— Professor Richard Bennett

Located in the home of the English novel of manners, this is a poetical hymn to family life with much tea-drinking and occasional scenes of risqué humour. The therapy sessions with hapless Dr Bridges were comedic and Noble’s sparkling language and meandering sentences had me laughing out loud; ‘why don’t we insist on things being beautiful?’ asks his patient and the ferocity of sacred winds ensues in a garden that desperately wants to be Eden regained.
I read the novel in one sitting carried along by the author’s poetic metonymic style as he turns his gentle humour on the complexities of domestic life. A real treat!

— Dr. Alain J.E. Wolf, Honorary Research Fellow, University of East Anglia

From Readers

What Readers Are Saying

I found it thought provoking and relevant. I particularly enjoyed the descriptive passages.

— Jo

I loved it and needed to know what happened to James, Anne and Jane, desperately hoping for the best!

— Mr. GD

It’s beautifully written, it moved me. There were places where I felt quite tearful, which is unique for me when reading a book.

— Katy M

The book is a beautiful, poignant story of sadness, tenderness and ending in hope. What I particularly loved are the wonderful descriptions, bringing ordinary rooms to life, details tinged with humour. I think the descriptions of the garden are sublime, bringing it to life in such a joyous way. Delightful writing. It is a beautifully crafted book.

— Leslye Jackson

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Have you read And For You, Everything Matters? Richard would love to hear what you made of it. Share your rating and a few words below.

Emeritus Professor John Elliott.

University of East Anglia, UK

What made Richard Noble’s study unique was the form in which the analysis of data about inspection reports and their impact on teachers and parents shaped up. This study broke with the secular tradition established in modern departments of educational studies in British universities and deployed concepts and methods of analysis that are rooted in an earlier tradition of disciplined educational thought that is best depicted as a form of philosophical theology. Drawing on teleological and ontological conceptions of human ‘purpose’ and ‘self’ within this tradition Richard Noble illuminates a spiritual dimension that underpins the practical experience of education as this is still understood and valued by teachers and parents in schools, but which the assessment methodology of Ofsted threatened to undermine.

Professor David Torevell. Liverpool Hope University, UK.

Honorary Research Fellow, University of East Anglia, UK

The three questions “Who am I?”; “What is a self?”; “What does it mean to be human?” are rarely, if ever, explicitly addressed in school inspection regimes and in daily teaching practice.
Richard Noble is the best person that I can think of to write lucidly and masterfully on this topic. Publication of this book is particularly timely as we grapple with issues related to post-pandemic disaffection in schools where hegemonies, subtly disguised as benign, yet perniciously determine the nature of our ultimate telos.
I believe this book is an invaluable and fundamental resource for all concerned with the reforming of the school experience and the ultimate, profound and inescapable mystery we confront when we ask the question: ‘Who are we?’

Professor David Torevell.

Liverpool Hope University, UK.

I was inspired, consoled and nodding continuously with agreement as I turned the pages to this very important book which deals with a crucial question all those involved in education urgently need to ask: Who are we and what makes us human? This in turn is related to the pressing dilemma of the purpose of education. Ontic and teleological questions are never separated. Although this might seem on obvious investigation to address, the author claims that it is rarely examined. Identity politics does not really touch on it. Therefore, there is a pressing need to uncover the often hidden, assumptions (he rightly calls them hegemonies) underlying notions of the self presently operating in educational discourse and practice.
He offers a counter-narrative based on theological presuppositions, although he is fully aware that this discipline has been sidelined in education for a considerable time. His focus is on Radical Orthodoxy and the Christian contemplative tradition. He contends that these two developments will assist us in grounding our educational thinking on firmer ground situated in a belief about the complex relational self. Placing theology at the discussion table and assuming for it a legitimate role as a serious, public interlocutor is necessary. The insights of theological anthropology need more recognition. Read the book carefully to see why the author regards his chosen theologies as ‘non-violent, reasoned and fertile’.
In some ways I have been waiting impatiently for this book to appear. Now it is here, I am pleased to highly recommend it to others. I think it deserves as wide an audience as possible and should be discussed regularly by all those working in education in whatever capacity. It also needs to be on the essential reading list of every teacher training course.