'We are, whether we like it or not, religious animals, who started to worship gods early in our existence and who were creating religions as we painted the walls of our caves. We, the human race, are a God-seeking people.'

As an acclaimed producer of religious documentaries for the BBC, then a leading biographer of religious figures including Desmond Tutu and Cicely Saunders, Shirley du Boulay has been at the centre of most of the major religious and spiritual movements of the last 50 years - her insight into both personal and organised belief is matched by few.

A Silent Melody is an honest and elegant exploration of our spiritual nature, written in the form of a personal memoir.