43. Absolute Truths

By Susan Howatch
Rated 5+ Stars
From:  My keeper shelves

I have decided to do a leisurly re-read of Susan Howatch's Starbridge series.  Since this is a re-read I have decided, for no particular reason, to start with the last book and to read my way through the series backwards. 

These books have always had a special place in my heart which is very odd since I generally do not read Christian books.  But unlike most "Christain" literature being regurgitated churned out  today  these books are so well written and the characters are so honest and human that these characters have stayed clearly in my mind ever since I first read them.  I made sure that I visited Salisbury Cathedral when I was in the UK and had a fine time wandering around picturing scenes from them.

FROM AMAZON:  This final novel in a double trilogy about the Church of England in the 1930s and the 1960s is a splendid conclusion to the series (begun with Glittering Images, LJ 6/1/87) and a powerful combination of psychological insight, theological depth, and storytelling ability. Howatch simultaneously provides her reader with both marvelous entertainment and genuine insight into the human condition. The narrator for this volume is Charles Ashworth, now Bishop of Starbridge, who staunchly, even self-righteously, defends traditional values. This continues until crisis-and his wife's journal-reveal to him the "shadow" side of his own life and its effect on his two sons; his dean, Stephen Aysgarth; other clergy; several women; and himself. The end is phoenix-like, as characters rise from their own ashes, yet never unrealistic.