FANCY BEING AN alcoholic for a few days, intent on a bender that involves 'continuous minor blackouts', makes you lose your bearings, and even threatens your life? Ever dreamt of being close to death and, step by step, re-creating Christ's journey to his Crucifixion, making your way between the Stations of the Cross? If so, Paradise - a novel narrated by a woman hooked on drink, in which each chapter corresponds to one stage of Christ's suffering - could be the book for you. Sounds heavy? It is.

As A L Kennedy's fourth novel opens, Hannah Luckraft, who is pushing forty and a serious devotee of strong liquids, wakes up in a room she doesn't recognise. She has no idea where she is or whether it's 8.42 in the morning or in the evening. These details gradually come