What kind of novel do you get when you combine mystery and suspense against a Catholic backdrop?
Well, it's definitely not The Da Vinci Code and this is definitely not Dan Brown.
Michael O’Brien is a writer and a painter. In his Children of the Last Days series of novels, the reader is treated to — in addition to his iconographic cover artwork — a rich tapestry of words. Processing the images he weaves together through unforgettable characters, landscapes of light and shadow, and winding paths of plots and side excursions is not unlike taking in a rich painting of mastery and depth where one can be brought to many levels, constantly uncovering new meanings and symbols.
Unlike Da Vinci Code one can identify with the Catholic world-view from which these novels are written, and one can appreciate Michael O’Brien’s perspective on the beauty of God’s world and all His children — even those who might seem to the world unfit, useless or perhaps better suited to a circus sideshow. Their joys, sufferings, sacrifices, even their martyrdoms, and the importance of each action and decision made, are all interconnected in the “big picture” for better or worse. Let's walk through a few of them:
Father Elijah: An Apocalypse was the first novel in the series, published in 1996. However, I would recommend reading (or re-reading) them in the order in which the stories take place – building from the story of a family in Strangers and Sojourners to the story of the world in cosmic proportions in Father Elijah: An Apocalypse.
Strangers and Sojourners is an epic family saga set against the beautiful and daunting frontier of British Columbia in the 1900s. The central character, Anne Delaney, is an ordinary heroine, struggling like many of those around her for truth, meaning and love and to overcome the fear within her and the shadow of fear and death that is ever prowling at her family and the world. Alienated from her London culture and her educated, philosophical family, she is a stranger to herself, to the rustic frontier life she has chosen, and to the Catholic faith of her husband.
The Plague Journal continues the story of the Delaney family with Anne’s grandson Nathaniel, a small-town newspaper editor. Freedom of press is becoming a thing of the past for people with Nathaniel’s views and opinions, and his opponents — part of an increasingly totalitarian mindset — ultimately force Nathaniel and his children on a flight for their lives. In addition to Lord of the Rings references, note that the cover artwork for this novel is entitled The Last Homely House and pictures the home of the Thus (a Vietnamese family) as warm and charming and full of life as any hobbit or elf home from Tolkien.
Eclipse of the Sun centers on the story of Arrow, the estranged son of Nathaniel Delaney, taken by his mother to live on a commune. A surviving witness to a government atrocity, the authorities are searching for Arrow under the pretext of protecting him from his “dangerous” father for whom they are searching. The novel shows God’s hand in the life of this wounded child as good people and most memorable characters from all walks of life come together each to play important roles in hiding and protecting Arrow at various stages of his journey.
Father Elijah is titled after the main character, a Carmelite priest called from his monastery on Mt. Carmel by the pope for a secret mission. His journey will lead him to confront not the ancient prophets of Baal, but the modern-day prophets of the world headed by a figure that the Church fears is the Antichrist. Intrigue, suspense, murder, and mystics are all found in this fictional portion of the continuing story of salvation history and the Church’s role in it. With references to Tolkien in the novel, Fr. Elijah and his companions are a parallel to Frodo and Sam setting out on a seemingly impossible task that will affect the fate of the world.
Cry of Stone is the newest novel in the series. The main character is a Native American girl, Rose Flower, and we are blessed to view the world from the eyes of her culture and her particular simplicity and gift of love. Little Rose Flower’s way is truly a little way — a child-like desire to trust God and do His will — which imbues her with heroic perseverance. She takes us to places and people we might never encounter, broken people and those who would seem to us misfits, but who to her are beautiful and good. When we read this novel we are privileged to witness how a saint is made.
(All of these novels are available by clicking on the title, and any of these novels would make a great film. Does anyone know how to get in touch with Mel?)
(Colleen Murray is a life-long Catholic. Together with her husband, she teaches religious education at her parish. She is currently in Lay Carmelite formation studies.)
