Glamorous Powers by Susan Howatch

Glamorous Powers is the 2nd novel in the Starbridge series...It is set during World War II, and the narrator is Jon Darrow, an Anglo Catholic priest who has counselled Charles Ashworth during his breakdown. Jon has a mystical streak and he sometimes has visions, and concentrates on the supernatural side of religion. At the start of the novel, he is the Abbot of the Fordite monks, but he had been married in his young days, and produced 2 children, Ruth and Martin. He is now 60 and has just lost his mentor, the arrogant Fr Cuthbert Darcy... and then he has a vision which makes him believe that God wants him to give up his monk's life and become a priest in the world again. He has to go to London to see the head of the order, Fr Francis Ingram, who has been a rival of his for many years, with both of them vying for senior posts. Francis is upper class and Jon who comes from a humble background, has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about his fellow monk's superiority in class.. Francis talks to him about his past and his religious life and he learns that Jon's marriage was not a happy one. He married largely to have a permitted sex life, and married a girl whose father kept a small shop. Betty was a rather silly woman and she and Jon did not get on well, and she died when her children were young. Jon waited till they were grown up and then went into the Fordites, and he doesnt get on too well with his children... Martin his son is homosexual and has a drink problem. He became an actor, and he and Jon rarely meet. After some in depth conversations Francis tells Jon that he thinks the vision is indeed a sign that he's meant to leave the order. Jon visits his daughter for a few weeks and does not get on too well with her either. He then goes to a hotel which caters to clerical people and students and tries to adjust to the world outside and the war. In the hotel he meets a young woman, 20 years his junior, who is plain but interesting. She owns a small estate and manages it herself, and she and Jon fall in love.