The Book of Days

The Book of Days

Author Francesca Kay
Publisher Swift Press £16.99
Format hbk
ISBN 9781800753495

This beautifully written novel serves as a history of the Tudor Reformation spanning the critical years of 1546 and 1547, the death of Henry VIII and the new regime of Edward VI, which introduced stern Protestant legislation to eliminate popish idolatry. The setting is a west country village where the dying squire, symbolising perhaps the demise of Catholic England, has commissioned a chantry chapel and a marble family tomb. The enterprise is doomed, for the villagers, stirred by an itinerant preacher, are beginning to forsake the old ways. The aged priest, Sir Joselin, and the new chantry priest, William, faithful traditional Catholics, yet also pastoral servants exemplifying the love of God, become victims as the Bishop’s commissioners enter the village, intent on destruction of idols, glass and relics. Francesca Kay’s novel provides a superb, erudite portrait of Tudor religious life, especially from the Catholic perspective. It is an absorbing and truly helpful historical picture – an entertaining alternative to the academic descriptions we find in the textbooks of Eamon Duffy (e.g. The Stripping of the Altars). Highly recommended.

Reviewed by KATE BURTON

Novel

 

I, Julian

I, Julian

Author Claire Gilbert
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton £18.99
Format hbk
ISBN 9781399807524

A novel about an obscure 14th-century lady who spent most of her life in solitary confinement does not seem to be promising territory. But the lady is Julian of Norwich and the author is Claire Gilbert, fine writer and wise theologian, who succeeds splendidly in bringing the mysterious Julian to vibrant life. We follow Julian’s entire story from earliest childhood, when the Black Death struck her family, through marriage and motherhood – when another outbreak of plague left her a lonely widow. After receiving divine visions during her own near-fatal illness, she found her vocation as a hermit, bricked up forever in a cell adjacent to St Julian’s church. Here she was inspired to write Revelations of Divine Love, the spiritual manual we value to this day. Gilbert paints a vivid picture of medieval religious tension when fear of death and hell dominated people’s minds. Her triumph is to demonstrate how Julian left her negative childhood faith to become an assured theologian, utterly convinced that God’s wrath had been replaced by Christ’s overwhelming compassion and love on the cross. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by KATE BURTON

Novel

 

The Company of Heaven

The Company of Heaven

Author Catherine Fox
Publisher Marylebone House (SPCK) £10.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781910674673

Those who have read her previous ‘Lindchester’ novels will relish this latest offering from the talented Catherine Fox. She creates beautifully drawn characters who (though they swear rather too much for the comfort of some) invariably show great compassion and true humanity against the depressing backdrop of the pandemic. Their full identity is found in Jesus Christ, despite their unconventional and occasionally bizarre lifestyles. Ultimately, this novel is about human vulnerability and this is primarily personified in the young, autistic, androgenous artist, Paver – a brilliant portrait of someone finding their way after deep personal tragedy. Fox writes with vivid prose, which is frequently hilarious, but also full of beautiful allusions to the natural world, to music, art and science. The text is studded with subtle biblical references, reminding readers that this is a religious work. The author’s wisdom shines through her principal theme – the weaknesses and strengths of our humanity. There is additional bonus material in the form of three short stories featuring the Lindchester characters, making this entertaining book excellent value for money: ideal reading for long autumn evenings.

Reviewed by ALICE BURDETT

Novel

 

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