Now that it’s officially summer, it’s time to start your summer reading! I’ve decided to help you out with a compilation of lists: the Best Catholic Novels You’ve Never Heard Of, the Best Catholic Novels You Should Have Read By Now, and the Best Catholic Novels I Haven’t Read Yet. Scroll to the bottom for my questions, definitions, and disclaimers.
Best Catholic Novels You’ve Never Heard Of:
- The Red Horse, Eugenio Corti (1983) – This very long novel follows a handful of Italian soldiers and their families through World War II and beyond. A bestseller in Italy based partly on the author’s own experiences in the war, it captures equally well the tragedy of human suffering, the senselessness of war, and the joy that springs from love.
- The Betrothed, Alessandro Manzoni (1827) – You know this is a legitimate Catholic novel because the Catholic characters in other Catholic novels read it. Two lovers in early 17th-century Italy become engaged, but their desire to marry immediately is thwarted by jealousy, war, politics, sickness, and more.
- Kristin Lavransdatter (trilogy), Sigrid Undset (1920-1922) – The Wreath, The Wife, and The Cross chronicle the life of Kristin Lavransdatter in 14th-century Norway from her childhood to her years as a wife and mother. The trilogy won Sigrid Undset the Nobel Prize in Literature partly because of its masterful portrayal of the Middle Ages: family honor, social classes, arranged marriages, a politically powerful Church, the plague — these alien concepts come to life in her work.
- The Devil’s Advocate, Morris West (1959) – Popular after its publication but now lesser-known, this novel details an intellectual English priest’s investigation of the life of an alleged saint in Italy. The priest is the devil’s advocate of the title — the man assigned to disprove the sanctity of the person in question. Faith and doubt, hope and despair, virtue and sin battle in him and around him as the priest’s own life comes to an end.
- Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004) – [you should know of this one, but just in case you don’t] As he sees his death approaching, an elderly Protestant minister in Iowa writes letters to his young son to recount his family’s history. It sounds terribly boring, but it’s astonishingly beautiful. The length is manageable; the prose, lovely; the characters, alive. I cannot do justice to it in a paragraph; just read it.
- Bonus selection of Best Catholic Thriller – The Death of a Pope, Piers Paul Read (2009) – A papal conclave is the target of an attack by a radical ex-priest.
Best Catholic Novels You Should Have Read By Now:
- Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather
- Manalive, G.K. Chesterton
- The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
- The Chronicles of Narnia (series), C.S. Lewis
- Father Elijah, Michael O’Brien
- The Violent Bear It Away, Flannery O’Connor
- The Moviegoer, Walker Percy
- The Lord of the Rings (trilogy), J.R.R. Tolkien
- Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
Best Catholic Novels I Haven’t Read Yet:
- The Sin Eater, The 27th Kingdom, and other fiction, Alice Thomas Ellis
- Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
- Morte d’Urban and other fiction, J.F. Powers
Questions: Which of these books were your favorites? Which great books did I unfairly overlook? Who are the best contemporary novelists, Catholic or otherwise? Is the term “Catholic novel” helpful, offensive, or useless? Discuss.
Definitions: “Novel” is defined loosely here, as any work of fiction, including fantasy and sci fi. But aside from a few obvious exceptions, “Catholic novel” refers in my lists not just to fiction that Catholics will probably enjoy (for the depth of characters, the moral questions explored, whatever) but specifically to fiction that touches on spiritual conversion and the lives of Catholic believers.
Disclaimers: 1) Not every book on these lists is suitable for kids (or younger teens, in my opinion, but that’s arguable). Inquire in the comments if you want more specific guidance. 2) Regarding the first list: if you’re the type of person who reads Catholic blogs in your spare time, you may, in fact, have already heard of and/or read these books. My classification of books into The Ones Everyone Has Read and The Ones No One Knows About are obviously subjective and subject to error. 3) The unlisted works of the authors whose names appear on my second list are also great, but I couldn’t include everything. 4) As the title of the third list makes plain, I have not read the books therein and include them only on the recommendation of others. So sue me.
15 thoughts on “Summer Reading”
Great list, you can add the trilogy of Brian Gail: Fatherless, Motherless, Childless.
Epic story of the Catholic Church in the USA from the late eighties to today through the lives, struggles, Faith and more of a parish priest and several Catholic families. A must!
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The Red Horse is excellent as are all Chesterton novels/stories and C.S. Lewis. I’ve read a few of the others, but will look forward to more.
Should be discovered: The Masterful Monk series by Fr. Owen Francis Dudley. Wonderful novels dealing with problems of human happiness written in the ’40s or so.
Msgr. Hugh Benson is another great Catholic novelist. I particularly recommend Lord of the World and By What Authority.
I’m sure there’s more… 🙂
Christian – Thanks for the recommendation!
MRSF3- I can’t believe I forgot Robert Hugh Benson! Lord of the World should definitely be on the first list. I haven’t gotten to By What Authority yet, or another book of his that my friend recommends, Come Rack! Come Rope! I’ll have to check out Fr. Owen Francis Dudley’s books as well.
I had just gotten on thinking about making a summer reading list, and then here you are…Someone is trying to get me to read more articulate *cough* grown up *cough cough* stuff I suppose…
I second the ‘all Chesterton’ recommendation, and specifically I think the Fr Brown stories by Chesterton are excellent, and generally family-friendly.
All of O’Connor’s works are outstanding…both novels are two of the best novels ever written (behind Shelley and Austen), and A Good Man is Hard to Find is the best short story ever written (all her stuff is high school and up, in content and themes. Same w/ Brideshead Revisited.)
I would add Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos to the list.
Matt- Ah yes, Diary of a Country Priest belongs on my third list; I haven’t read it yet! Silence by Shusaku Endo should go there as well. Along with Chesterton’s Fr. Brown stories should go Ralph McInerny’s Fr. Dowling series, for those who like mysteries. (You can tell I wrote this post late last night by how much I forgot!)
I was completely baffled by O’Connor’s stories (like “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”) when I first read them early in high school, but now that I’ve read her essays (collected in Mystery and Manners) and letters (The Habit of Being), which I highly recommend, she makes a lot more sense.
Not sure why you included Gilead in this list. It’s a splendid read, and Christian certainly, but not really Catholic. Otherwise, a great list!
George- Yeah, I admit I was stretching the boundaries on Gilead. Arguably its sacramental worldview (grace working through nature, the sacredness of everyday life) helps it fit in the “Catholic novel” box, but Robinson (who is Calvinist, I believe) would almost certainly object to my classification.
A lot of great suggestions. How about Edwin O Connors Pulitzer winner “The Edge of Sadness”
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller, Jr.
I would have to say that the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset are amoung my favorite books. I enjoyed them so much, I have read every other book of hers translated into English. I have recommended the trilogy to many others – even lent them my books – and everyone has enjoyed them. She is able to make the people and the time period so real. The themes of love and forgiveness transcend time and place. I understand a new translation is available with all of the books in one volume. I just may have to reread that trilogy!
A wonderful list, especially the “Best Catholic Novels You Should Have Read By Now”. I’m happy to see that someone put Canticle for Leibowitz in the comment area, that book is very different, but an incredible read. Also, a little novel called Mr. Blue by Miles Connolly deserves a spot on this list. It’s a great summer read, and- if read the right way- could really change one’s perspective on life. It’s not too in depth, and the main character is extremely endearing. Hmm, what else…? C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters are always a good choice, but his often overlooked The Great Divorce is one of my favorites. Also, if you’re more into sci-fi, his Space Trilogy is “out of this world”. 🙂 Tolkien’s The Children of Hurin doesn’t require as much time as his LOTR series; it is a beautiful tragedy set before the Third Age. Also, for serious Tolkien fans, The Tolkien Reader or The Silmarillion are excellent. Anything Jane Austen is perfect for a love story, or some of Louisa May Alcott’s lesser known works, such as The Inheritance (for something sappy but sweet) or A Long and Fatal Love Chase (for a page-turner- though it’s depressing). Thanks for many new book ideas! God bless!
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Minnesota novelist Jon Hassler wrote some wonderfully rich novels that could be on the list. Hassler paints wonderful portraits of school teachers, priests, and college professor bumping up against the vagaries of life and the limitations of small-town life. North of Hope tells the story of a priest assigned to an Indian reservation but suffering a “leak in his soul.” I found it engrossing and deeply moving.