Catholic Fiction

Gaea by Robina Williams

Debra Murphy — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:10:18 +0000

reviewed by Tannia Ortiz-Lopès In her latest release, Gaea, author Robina Williams joins the latest trend and goes green. The book begins with a man dragging and kicking the body of a woman inside a ditch. Gaea, the Earth goddess, is unconscious, weak, and in severe distress due to men’s constant brutal abuse and disrespect regarding nature’s [...]

The Children of Men by P.D. James

Debra Murphy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:59:49 +0000

Reviewed by Christine Sunderland The year is 2021 and the setting is England. No children have been born since 1995, for man has become infertile. P.D. James’ novel, The Children of Men, is divided into two parts: Omega and Alpha, the End and the Beginning. We move from a slow, distanced narrative deadened with despair [...]

Dear and Glorious Physician, by Taylor Caldwell

Jody Rakis — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:17:06 +0000

reviewed by Jody Rakis I first read Dear and Glorious Physician, Taylor Caldwell’s biographical novel about St. Luke, approximately thirty years ago. It left me in awe. It inspired me to want to read more, anything that could help fulfill the need to increase my closeness and knowledge of God. I felt St. Luke come to [...]

Piers Paul Read on his US book tour

Debra Murphy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:46:16 +0000

The British magazine Standpoint has published an article by Piers Paul Read about his recent US book tour promoting his bestselling novel, Death of a Pope. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in here for readers and writers of Catholic fiction, but he starts it all off with a story, which, though relating to a [...]

Debra Murphy on the fiction of Ian McEwan

Debra Murphy — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:13:59 +0000

Debra Murphy, CatholicFiction.net editor, has written an article on the fiction of English novelist Ian McEwan. First published last winter in Second Spring Journal, Debra’s article, “A Christian looks at the fiction of Ian McEwan”, is now available online at CatholicExchange. Here’s how the article begins: Two things need to be gotten out of the way before [...]

Exiles by Ron Hansen

Christy Isinger — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:42:34 +0000

reviewed by Christy Isinger Many novels could be written about the life and work of Catholic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. Ron Hansen’s Exiles entwines the religious life and struggles of Hopkins with the five heroic nuns who lost their lives in a shipwreck and became the inspiration of Hopkins’ great poem, [...]

In the Shadows of Greeneland

Debra Murphy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:05:53 +0000

The Veritas blog has reprinted a lovely article by Mark Lawson on Graham Greene and his influence as a Catholic novelist. The article, “In the Shadows of Greeneland”, was originally published by British Catholic paper, The Tablet. Here’s an excerpt: Today, Catholicism, wanderlust and expatriation all lack the attraction they had for writers in Greene’s time. The [...]

Robert E. Lauder on the Catholic Fiction of Alice McDermott

Debra Murphy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:47:37 +0000

Rev. Robert E. Lauder has an article in the recent edition of America magazine on the fiction of Alice McDermott, comparing her novels to those of other famous Catholic novelists such as Graham Greene, and identifying her as what he calls a “Transcendental Thomist.” Here’s an excerpt: Over the last seventeen years, as the coordinator of an [...]

Original Sin, by P.D. James

Christy Isinger — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:30:05 +0000

reviewed by Christy Isinger When rummaging through the paperback section of many a bookstore not much hope is held out for a good piece of literature. A good story may be found here or decent writing there, but a great piece of literature, which also happens to be a crime novel, is not something one [...]

Crown of the World, Book I: The Knight of the Temple

Tannia Ortiz-Lopes — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:03:46 +0000

The Knight of the Temple is the debut novel of The Crown of the World trilogy written by young author Nathan Sadasivan. The book cover shows Christ’s crown of thorns above a battle scene where the main character, Godfrey de Montferrat, a bold and brave Temple Knight, is engaged on a battle. The author takes the [...]