tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post1613853779288529990..comments2023-12-25T11:13:04.495+00:00Comments on Seraphic Singles: Buy/Write Catholic Literature InsteadSeraphichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-80272459927806170352012-06-27T23:45:31.488+01:002012-06-27T23:45:31.488+01:00Thanks to the commenter who mentioned my Catholic ...Thanks to the commenter who mentioned my Catholic mysteries BLEEDER and VIPER (both from Sophia Institute Press). I belong to The Catholic Writers Guild which has many fiction writers among the membership: Ellen Hrkach writes women's fiction, Ann Lewis writes mysteries, Karina Fabian writes science fiction, Regina Doman writes Young Adult novels, to name just a few. www.catholicwritersguild.com<br /><br />John Desjarlais<br />www.johndesjarlais.comjohnny dangeroushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155587617175255684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-71553750593079462682012-06-25T03:28:27.524+01:002012-06-25T03:28:27.524+01:00Hi Aunt S,
Wow! So many good suggestions in the c...Hi Aunt S,<br /><br />Wow! So many good suggestions in the combox here! I am definitely putting many of these on my reading list. <br />Thanks :)<br /><br />PS: Regarding 50 Stains of Garbage-- it is *literally* _Twilight_ fan fiction with the protagonists' names changed. Sigh! I am not even going to consider reading it, but I thought you should know its pretty lame in origin and execution.Jackienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-1087961326579759912012-06-24T23:11:01.659+01:002012-06-24T23:11:01.659+01:00It wasn't mentioned in this blog before becaus...It wasn't mentioned in this blog before because I've never heard of it. I have heard of other books for Singles, but not that one.Seraphichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-89428796498707108612012-06-24T19:18:12.894+01:002012-06-24T19:18:12.894+01:00I think Blogger ate my comment, so here it is agai...I think Blogger ate my comment, so here it is again:<br /><br />Confession: I read exactly one page of those books, while waiting in line to get my Pioneer Woman cookbook signed. From the one page, I found that the male protagonist was all bent out of shape over having taken the woman's virginity without knowing that she was a virgin.<br /><br />The fantasy of the books, I think, is that the uber-wealthy playboy falls in monogamous love with this young woman. That he flatly refuses to do anything without her explicit consent - even though what they are doing appears to be against her will. That he's a sadist who cares about her virtue and emotional well-being.<br /><br />As Auntie keeps reminding us, men are as they are, not as women wish them to be. The insidious wrong of the books is that they present men as women wish they were, not as they <i>are</i>. <br /><br />Beyond that digression, what about Catholic/Christian movies? Plays? TV series? <br /><br />~theobromophileAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-50551850673576499062012-06-24T08:08:45.504+01:002012-06-24T08:08:45.504+01:00I highly recommend Simone Lia's new autobiogra...I highly recommend Simone Lia's new autobiographical graphic novel Please God, Find Me a Husband! Lia is a Catholic, and the book is a wonderful and funny exploration of her experiences as a young single Catholic and her relationship with God. I am surprised that it has not been mentioned on this blog before.Eliza W.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-8781342388221319192012-06-24T05:02:19.545+01:002012-06-24T05:02:19.545+01:00While the greatest literature was arguably written...While the greatest literature was arguably written by Catholics, people of other faiths can also write stuff which is true, beautiful, and good...hence, I'd call the following list of recommendations catholic if not Catholic.<br />Another rec for Sigrid Undset - the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. Don't stop with the (earthy) first book. Follow it all the way through. Undset became Catholic while writing this trilogy, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature for it. She gets human nature.<br />Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy also gets human nature. <br />A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken. Vanauken was not Catholic when he wrote the book, though he became Catholic some years later. The true story of his marriage to his wife, and their conversion to Christianity. C. S. Lewis plays an important role and makes a few cameo appearances. A fantastic book about what love and marriage are REALLY about.Domestic Divanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-62479605453435186382012-06-24T03:36:52.389+01:002012-06-24T03:36:52.389+01:00Wow, what a timely post for me! I say that for tw...Wow, what a timely post for me! I say that for two reasons. First, because I have been trying to find good Catholic fiction to read, and it's awesome seeing so many great suggestions. If I may add a few...<br />"The Problems of Human Happiness" series by Owen Francis Dudley. The Catholicism is strong, yet somehow woven in so well to the stories that it is not preachy. <br />"The Endless Knot" series by William Biersach. Awesome mystery writing. <br />Bud McFarlane Jr.'s books. If you are used to really good literature, you may not enjoy these. If you are looking for a light and engaging read, I highly recommend "Conceived Without Sin."<br />"Shadows and Images" by Mariol Trevor. <br />Louis De Wohl's books. Catholic Historical Fiction.<br />Unfortunately, out of these five authors, only two are still alive, and it can be hard to find many of the books written by the others. <br />Which brings me to the other reason I found this post timely. In the past few months, I keep getting these little pushes from different places to WRITE. Not that this is a new idea- I've been writing stories since I started writing (although finishing them is another story.) But where do you even start getting published? And what are all of you looking for when you read? There is a Catholic Fiction contest through Tuscany Press that I would like to enter, but I seem to have too many ideas!Raehttp://theramblingamateur.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-49047511049660803872012-06-24T01:27:00.392+01:002012-06-24T01:27:00.392+01:00Just a non-target audience lurker here...since Tim...Just a non-target audience lurker here...since Tim Powers has been mentioned a couple of times above, the poppets who have never heard of him will certainly like <a href="http://jimmyakin.com/2006/05/through_and_thr.html" rel="nofollow">this short story</a>. It's the only thing I've read from him and it left me pretty impressed when I read it.LadBelowTheEquatornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-62567723474871790842012-06-24T00:04:33.365+01:002012-06-24T00:04:33.365+01:00I... essentially agree with everyone? How did tha...I... essentially agree with everyone? How did that happen? ;-) I think we do need to support Catholic authors, but we need to avoid the example of Christian Fiction in the bookstores. That section grows bigger, and our presence in mainstream fiction grows smaller... and a lot of it is crap, from what I can tell. Even books that sweep the world, well, they're not necessarily so wonderful. (I'm thinking of The Shack, which certainly had something to offer, but was artistically and faith-wise middling.)<br /><br />Good fiction can help prepare people's hearts for the Gospel. They're never going to pick up something from the Christian Fiction section. But I know someone living a very different lifestyle with very different values who loves, e.g., Chesterton's Father Brown. That does two things: keeps the door open, and counteracts stereotypes of judgmental or prudish or what have you Catholics/Christians. When we segregate ourselves out, we are cooperating in the exclusion of Christianity from the culture. We can't and don't have to dominate, but we should be in the world, not off to the side.<br /><br />Father Elijah by O'Brien is great. I was mixed on Sofia House or whichever was the prequel, but it was good.<br /><br />Tim Powers is a great Catholic author who is likely to reach the scifi/supernatural crowd, and I agree, Declare is fantastic.<br /><br />Goths could easily come to Christ from the foundation for believe ready and waiting for them in Tolkien. <br /><br />When faith flows through the artistic gifts God has given us, it bears good fruit in people's lives. The problem today is delivery- we're all into instant gratification and a lot of people don't want to read tons and tons. But Harry Potter did it - and, while I know this may be questionable to some Catholics, it really did have an explicitly Christian strain and message, regardless of any liberality on the part of the author. We can do that. The Gospel is for the world, good art glorifies God, and we can use the latter to bring about the former.<br /><br />~Nzie, with apologies for soapboxificating.Nziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05611004371935380366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-29356860875908824592012-06-23T22:44:56.678+01:002012-06-23T22:44:56.678+01:00Oops, but this is a blog about being a single woma...Oops, but this is a blog about being a single woman! Shoot, trying to refocus... "How can Catholic and other Christian women best respond to reading matter that appeals not to women's best instincts but to our weaknesses?" - but I guess we've been covering that, in terms of looking for good literature. Don't, don't, don't, DON'T read that dumb bestseller, even to find out what the fuss is about. It doesn't deserve attention. It will go away and the next horrible thing will come to replace it. But it's awful because it's porn, and a lot of the women reading it are probably women who didn't previously use pornography, and are now suddenly aware of how stimulating it is (without realizing, perhaps, that it IS porn - it doesn't have naughty pictures, and it even gets to sit right up front in the bookstore). I worry that it might end up being a "gateway drug" for many women, in that sense. <br /><br />I think pointing out that it normalizes and fetishizes an abusive relationship is a good thing to do. Good heavens - just try to get friends to think critically and respect themselves. Speak with wisdom when you use whatever platform you have, and speak to individuals where they're at, same as any kind of evangelization. It's all part of that. And fight back with real love, in your art and in life. <br /><br />Re-recommending "Gilead" here for the way it speaks to long-time single people; the protagonist is single until he's in his sixties. And just go crazy reading Dostoyevsky. Do it. And hey, if you have a reading group that for some [bizarre, un-book-club-like] reason wants to read Stupid Shades of Dumb, get them to read "Anna Karenina" instead - with incentive: there's a new film coming out this fall, which you'll want to see and discuss. And pitch it as also being about a scandalous affair. 10 Sneaky Points to you.n.panchanchahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14371104836667363271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-57134866264933217152012-06-23T21:35:51.391+01:002012-06-23T21:35:51.391+01:00Well, chat on, because I keep checking! These are ...Well, chat on, because I keep checking! These are certainly subjects close to my heart. How can Catholic and other Christian women best respond to reading matter that appeals not to women's best instincts but to our weaknesses? And how is the Catholic artist supposed to both pursue both artistic excellence and be faithful to God?Seraphichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-67234379717586735442012-06-23T21:26:01.913+01:002012-06-23T21:26:01.913+01:00I was really looking forward to n.panchancha joini...I was really looking forward to n.panchancha joining this conversation.Eowynnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-53492231974438492932012-06-23T21:11:38.530+01:002012-06-23T21:11:38.530+01:00I think the answer really will end up being "...I think the answer really will end up being "gifted writers as faithful Catholics" - either those who never lose their faith, or those who convert as adults. Someone who is a deeply-thinking artist who discovers the beauty of the church and of Christ wouldn't think twice about celebrating that beauty in their literature, I don't think, controversial as that may be, and might in fact get really excited about being part of a truly counter-cultural movement.<br /><br />All that envelope-pushing, sexually transgressive [literary] fiction used to have no audience and only "niche" publishers, but now it's weird to go to a public reading series and not hear that sort of material, in my experience. (And I think most serious writers/readers kind of yawn at it, to be honest - there's not much further that the envelope can be pushed in that direction.) I don't think writers get upset because their material isn't considered mainstream; I think writers can feel discouraged without a community of like-minded writers, but if one is trying for "75% of the populace would be willing to purchase this," then one is probably writing insubstantial fluff.<br /><br />Honestly, I may be naive, or perhaps just lucky, but in pretty much every situation I've been in when my faith comes through in my writing, other (non-Christian, secular) writers have responded mainly with surprise and curiosity rather than derision. I think we owe it to the world to bear witness to the faith in a way that thinking people can engage with, rather than letting the ghettoized, low-quality Christian lit be the sole speaker for the faith.<br /><br />Oh, plug for awesome, successful book: Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004, and is absolutely mind-blowingly beautiful. It's not specifically Catholic (I think the protagonist is a Calvinist preacher), but it's simply one of the most true and original and exquisite pieces of writing I've read in a long time. I've grabbed my copy off the shelf and I see that the National Catholic Register reviewed it super positively and called it "explosive and transgressive" - so there you are; when the bonkers bad living goes mainstream in lit fic, a challenging story about a faithful, thinking Christian becomes transgressive. Own it.n.panchanchahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14371104836667363271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-61246412544723258452012-06-23T20:53:31.997+01:002012-06-23T20:53:31.997+01:00Okay. I will! ASAP!Okay. I will! ASAP!Seraphichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-353462046746757382012-06-23T20:30:55.519+01:002012-06-23T20:30:55.519+01:00You must, you MUST read Excellent Women, Seraphic!...You must, you MUST read Excellent Women, Seraphic!!Jamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18076215213828545013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-76366153944013091342012-06-23T20:21:25.693+01:002012-06-23T20:21:25.693+01:00Ahh, Babette's Feast! But those poor northern ...Ahh, Babette's Feast! But those poor northern puritans, they were fed a veritable Eucharistic feast by the sensuous French (Catholic...) Babette! But you're right, it is a movie that totally trades in the iconography of Protestantism. And it's a great movie.<br /><br />Chariot's of Fire, good one. Then there's Jesus Camp, which is... well. But I meet them with Of Gods and Men, The Mission, Into Great Silence, The Boondock Saints (er...) and A Man For All Seasons. WHAT NOW??<br /><br />We pay for all this "good press" with horror/thriller movies that completely cash in on making other aspects of Catholic cultural iconography into images of fear and hatred and revulsion. But. A person can present a Catholic character without apology (until they explain that they are a sincere Catholic on points A, B, and C: the Creed, homosexuality, and you choice). But no one can present an evangelical without apology.<br /><br />A good book which sort of attempts to come to terms with American Protestant religiosity is "The Brothers K" by David James Duncan. It's about a Seventh Day Adventist family. But the Adventists are on the whole demonized. Like I said, I grew up evangelical, so I'm still on the lookout for some book that will treat this experience in the serious way I think it deserves to be treated...american in deutschlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-72549200473264007252012-06-23T20:03:15.772+01:002012-06-23T20:03:15.772+01:00Chariots of Fire! Babette's Feast!
:-DChariots of Fire! Babette's Feast!<br /><br />:-DSeraphichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-7806249952880670942012-06-23T19:59:29.446+01:002012-06-23T19:59:29.446+01:00Oh yeah, I didn't mean to say anything about t...Oh yeah, I didn't mean to say anything about the actual process of getting published or gaining a following. Our world is very different than it was in the early and mid 20th century when these authors were writing (that they were mainstream was my point!). I really know nothing about that side of things; only as a reader. However, I think Catholicism still has a cultural currency that, for instance, American evangelicalism has NEVER had, and we shouldn't forget it. You can still find the Catholicism portrayed in TV and movies, even if it's in a negative way (but still, very often, it's only ambiguous). What was the last movie produced about evangelicals? There are some very good writers with a non-Catholic Christian heritage (Annie Dillard, Marilyn Robinson, Wendell Berry) and so on, though maybe it means something that they are all Americans... They are not the most orthodox of Protestant Christians, but nevertheless they keep this literary presence alive. But I'm not saying "they can do it, so there's no problem." ANY author that gets this kind of success is far beyond most of us. But as a reader, I find there's still lots to interest me.american in deutschlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-630416047612068972012-06-23T19:56:54.897+01:002012-06-23T19:56:54.897+01:00No, I don't like genre either. Well, what I am...No, I don't like genre either. Well, what I am suggesting is "Buy Catholic". By quality Catholic, but buy Catholic all the same. Vote with your money and, whenever possible, point artsy friends in the direction of the best Catholic/Christian art. Fra Angelico. Dante. Christina Rossetti. <br /><br />AARRGH! I wonder if the problem isn't really that fewer artists, fewer writers and fewer educated people in general are likely to be believing Christians and Catholics in the English-speaking world. Because guess where little Seraphic got the most reviews, the most press ink, the most interest in her coming to speak? Poland, that's where. In Poland Catholic is still mainstream. In Poland you can actually make a living as a "Catholic writer" because Catholics in Poland still seem to buy "Catholic" books. Catholicism is still a major, MAJOR cultural force.<br /><br />("Not as much as it used to be," chorus my Polish readers, although I bet the Catholic presses are making more money now than they were under the Commies.)Seraphichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-77692400839499401192012-06-23T19:22:58.800+01:002012-06-23T19:22:58.800+01:00Definitely nothing crappy should be published just...Definitely nothing crappy should be published just because it is Christian. In fact, Christians should be extra careful not to publish crappy stuff, for fear that people start thinking that Christian stuff is by its very nature crappy. And, of course, they have to have a serious think about the line between literature and propaganda. <br /><br />Your top five Catholic writers were not just Catholic. They were mainstream. Greene wrote for the Times. Tolkien was an Oxford professor. O'Connor was a southerner who wrote about the South. Waugh's father was a publisher. <br /><br />But faithful Catholics and the mainstream are pulling more and more apart, and Catholics are slowly being pushed into the corners of society. <br /><br />Imagine almost every short story magazine you read and almost every play you attend and almost every Open Mic you write your name down for includes sexually explicit material. Imagine sitting in a dark room while all around you people whose writing you enjoy laugh heartily at the description of a nasty Christian stereotype. <br /><br />Because that, sadly, is my reality. And heaven only knows how many useful contacts I have seriously p-o'd because I publicly oppose the redefinition of marriage. It's not all about merit. It's about being liked, too.<br /><br />Fortunately, the internet revolution means that like-minded people can now band together, help each other and tell each other where the good stuff is. Want to read Catholic stuff but not if it's dark and gloomy? Avoid "Poor Banished Children" and read "The Lost Highway." Don't mind a bit of spice? Read Piers Paul Read. Definitely don't want the spice? Don't read Read. Wondering how to make American 12 year olds interested in G.K. Chesterton's ideas? Look into McNichol. <br /> <br />It is really hard for undiscovered writers to be published right now. REALLY HARD. You have to develop a skin like a rhinoceros to put up with all the rejection letters or have a husband nagging you to try again. You have to find people in the biz who are likely to be sympathetic to your writing and to you.<br /><br />I'm wondering if a better word than "niche" is genre...Seraphichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-54544298300173975562012-06-23T19:15:53.203+01:002012-06-23T19:15:53.203+01:00I've discussed the issue of Catholicism and ar...I've discussed the issue of Catholicism and art A LOT lately with artists in the Catholic community, and a lot of really good insights have come up. I have to admit that most of my experience with "Christian"/"Catholic" literature that actually announced itself as such was disappointing, from a literary point of view, although it was perfectly edifying and orthodox and excellent in many moral ways. This led me to believe, for a period of my life, that if God called me to write for his sake, I would have to put aside any pretensions to high-level artistic accomplishment and settle down into rock-solid orthodoxy presented blandly - in other words, that literary achievement in the purely artistic sense was the bastion of the contemporary secularist. What a lie, obviously! (But unfortunately one that's easy to fall into if truly gifted writers stop loving God.) I am now thoroughly convinced that anyone writing for love of God is actually called to a HIGHER degree of artistic accomplishment than any other persuasion of writer. Beauty has evangelical properties.<br /><br />One really good insight a friend offered was regarding one artist friend who had suggested that "we need to start making more Catholic art," and another artist who had responded (I think with some irritation), "No; we need to make art about what we care most about." And I think the latter is actually the TRUTH; however, we, as Catholics, need to fall more in love with God, so that he becomes that something. So that is my current philosophy: Make great art, and love God more.<br /><br />I totally recommend Flannery O'Connor's essays in Mystery & Manners to anyone who's an artist (Catholic or otherwise, though the non-Catholics might get a surprise). Seriously - the woman is a straight-up sassy genius.<br /><br />And I don't have anything to add re: the popularity of that erotica book other than - argh. Some marketing team made a terrible moral misstep and I only hope for their sake that they did it in ignorance of the good, rather than in deliberate defiance of it.n.panchanchahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14371104836667363271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-63926536075173695272012-06-23T18:59:20.152+01:002012-06-23T18:59:20.152+01:00Oh and, one of my TOP FAVORITE novelists is Chaim ...Oh and, one of my TOP FAVORITE novelists is Chaim Potok. His books about Judaism, especially 20th c. ultra-orthodox Judaism in America, truly changed my life and are one of the reasons I am Catholic today.<br /><br />Ironically, Potok (a Jewish man, writing about Jewish people, for a Jewish and Christian and non-religious audience) decided he wanted to become a writer when he read Brideshead Revisited as a teenage boy in yeshiva in New York.american in deutschlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-56001717777684821142012-06-23T18:56:16.594+01:002012-06-23T18:56:16.594+01:00I agree with the above comments in coming out in f...I agree with the above comments in coming out in favor of *good literature* but not caring much who writes it (although Waugh, Greene, O'Connor, Tolkien, Walker Percy, etc are in my top faves). I grew up in the evangelical milieu where "Christian literature written by a Christian" was basically an excuse to publish the crappiest stuff, and it is still a thriving subculture. What I love about Catholic culture (as a convert) is that that doesn't really exist.<br /><br />I honestly don't read many contemporary novels, but I think the great strength of the 20th century Catholic (and Christian) literary types is that they really didn't market to a niche. I'm not saying you were proposing this! Just my thoughts.american in deutschlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-75727779227635432322012-06-23T18:11:26.491+01:002012-06-23T18:11:26.491+01:00Awesome! I'm so glad you read Edith Stein beca...Awesome! I'm so glad you read Edith Stein because I mentioned her so often. YAAAAAAAYYYYY! If I were you, I'd keep my eyes peeled for conferences about or including Edith Stein. The University of Notre Dame has the "Edith Stein Lectures" every February. <br /><br />I must read some Pym. Baroness (P.D.) James is another worthy Anglican, as is (deceased) Rose Macaulay (whose "Towers of Trebizond" I love love love).<br /><br />The more literary Catholics we have, both readers and writers, committed to both literature and Catholics reclaiming their place in the world (whether in the spirit of the New Evangelization or simply in recovering civilization), the more excellent Catholic literature we will have. De Maria will appeal to some, I will appeal to others, someone else will write wonderfully funny Catholic romance novels... It will be good. And the more of us there are, and the more Catholic publishers are interested in literary standards (as opposed to Stuff Safe for Sunday Schools), then the more likely it is that new Flann O'Connors and new Walker Percys, new Muriel Sparks and new Evelyn Waughs will appear.Seraphichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06251504033428511090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6905236167079601771.post-57643517181208242402012-06-23T18:07:40.404+01:002012-06-23T18:07:40.404+01:00Some other well written novels by Catholic authors...Some other well written novels by Catholic authors:<br /><br />Declare by Tim Powers <br /><br />Ida Elisabeth by Sigrid Undset<br /><br />Some lighter Catholic fiction (if you like mysteries):<br /><br />Viper by John Desjarlais<br />Bleeder by John Desjarlais<br /><br /><br />Also, I join Jam in recommending Excellent Women by Barbara Pym even though the author is not Catholic.<br /><br />--C.B.Catholic Bibliophagisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10697706672495544901noreply@blogger.com