Good Catholic Fiction

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Medic_Mark

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I love to read at night before bed. Sometimes I’ll read a sentence; sometimes I’ll read 100 pages. It helps me unwind and relax.

The only Catholic fiction I own is the film Joshua and the book by Fr. Girzone. I enjoyed the film, but I gather that Fr. Girzone may be questionable in terms of his orthodoxy. 🤷

As for religious fiction, I enjoyed the Left Behind series as a concept and put up with the terrible writing for the sake of an interesting theme and some cool characters. The dramatic audio versions (like old time radio theater) are awesomely entertaining. :o

So how about it? Any good Catholic fiction out there or am I stuck with only the book Joshua and movies like Stigmata?
 
“How Firm A Foundation” by Marcus Grodi is good Catholic fiction. Not just a good read but a lot of good info on Catholicism.
 
If you like historical fiction, you really ought to read a certain book documenting a fictional Knight of St. John during the Siege of Malta in 1565. You might expect such a book to be full of cursing and rather scandalous behaviour, but it is written by a devoted and committed Roman Catholic! The title is: Angels in Iron, and it was written by Nicholas Prata. Perhaps you might dislike historical fiction or violent Catholic fiction; however, it was a crucial moment in the history of Christ’s Church! 🙂
 
I loved the book called Father Elijah (I won’t give the story away but one could see Obama in the story even though it was written atleast a decade before he came on the scene)

Not sure about the other books by the same writer though.

There is a good trilogy that you cane find at catholicity.com
 
I’m not really sure what you mean by Catholic fiction, but there are numerous works of fiction which celebrate the values of Catholic or Christian morality and present a Catholic view of life, though the characters themselves may not always be aware of it.
I can begin with Graham Greene’s The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair, and The Power and the Glory.
Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and Helena.
Mary Gordon’s The Company of Women.
A.J. Cronin’s The Keys of the Kingdom.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
The Seed and the Sower by Laurens Van Der Post.
The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe,
Deep River, The Golden Country, The Wonderful Fool, Silence, and The Samurai, all by Shusaku Endo.
Death Comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cather.
There is quite a bit of fiction out there which represents the Catholic view of life, but these books should be enough to get you started.
 
Medic_Mark said:
I love to read at night before bed. Sometimes I’ll read a sentence; sometimes I’ll read 100 pages. It helps me unwind and relax.

The only Catholic fiction I own is the film Joshua and the book by Fr. Girzone. I enjoyed the film, but I gather that Fr. Girzone may be questionable in terms of his orthodoxy. 🤷

As for religious fiction, I enjoyed the Left Behind series as a concept and put up with the terrible writing for the sake of an interesting theme and some cool characters. The dramatic audio versions (like old time radio theater) are awesomely entertaining. :o

So how about it? Any good Catholic fiction out there or am I stuck with only the book Joshua and movies like Stigmata?
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There’s a series of three Catholic novels that you can get for free (pay shipping, I think) from the following:

secure.catholicity.com/novels/

I’ve read all three and they’re pretty good.
 
If you like short stories here’s a good one for this time of year

[Waiting: Stories for Advent by Michael O’Brien](http://just(name removed by moderator)ress.ca/)
 
And for those Holmesians out there, I’ve been enjoying this book since it came out:

Murder in the Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
holmeschurchmysteries.com/

take care,
amsjj 🙂

+++
Jesus, God and man,
imprisoned by love in Thy most holy Sacrament,
have mercy upon us.
– Blessed John Henry Newman, December 22, 1851
 
The Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are among my favorites. A series about a 12th century monk who solves murder mysteries. There is much detail in the stories about 12th century life in England and monastic life in particular. The older stories in the series are out of print but you can get used copies through Amazon or other booksellers.
 
May I suggest • Novels:
• The Man Who Was Thursday
• The Ball and the Cross
• The Return of Don Quixote

• Short Fiction and Poetry:
• the Father Brown stories
• The Queen of Seven Swords, Wine, Water and Song

All of these by G.K.Chesterton
 
+1 for Graham Greene.

No easy answers, but they sure do dramatise the Mystery of Faith and the human dilemma.
 
May I recommend Michael O’Brien’s books? He’s one of the finest writers of Catholic fiction I’ve ever read. Father Elijah should be read first, then progress on to his series "Children of the Last Days’ trilogy. Some characters resurface, so it’s easier to read them in order.

If you’re interested in lighter fare you might enjoy Katherine Valentine’s books. The first is A Miracle for St. Cecelia’s. This series is very similar to Jan Karon’s Mitford series in tone and reading level.

Also you might enjoy Diary of a Country Priest.
 
Medic_Mark said:
I love to read at night before bed. Sometimes I’ll read a sentence; sometimes I’ll read 100 pages. It helps me unwind and relax.

The only Catholic fiction I own is the film Joshua and the book by Fr. Girzone. I enjoyed the film, but I gather that Fr. Girzone may be questionable in terms of his orthodoxy. 🤷

As for religious fiction, I enjoyed the Left Behind series as a concept and put up with the terrible writing for the sake of an interesting theme and some cool characters. The dramatic audio versions (like old time radio theater) are awesomely entertaining. :o

So how about it? Any good Catholic fiction out there or am I stuck with only the book Joshua and movies like Stigmata?
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This is my weak spot. I’m not much of a fiction reader but I did read one that was pretty good: The Quiet Light by Louis de Wohl. It’s about my favorite saint - St. Thomas Aquinas.
 
James224 said:
This is my weak spot. I’m not much of a fiction reader but I did read one that was pretty good: The Quiet Light by Louis de Wohl. It’s about my favorite saint - St. Thomas Aquinas.
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Ditto for Louis de Wohl! 👍 My personal favorite is “The Spear”.

There are a lot of novels I read that have a Catholic “flavor” to them (that is, the characters are quite obviously Catholic and live Catholic lives, but the story isn’t about the faith and they aren’t trying to convert anyone.)

Ahem… my list…🤓

“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith
“The Christmas Sweater” by Glenn Beck
The “Sister Agatha” mysteries by Aimee and David Thurlo (Bad Faith, Thief in Retreat, Prey for a Miracle, False Witness, Prodigal Nun, and Bad Samaritan)
Most of Mary Higgins Clark’s suspense novels (and her memoir, Kitchen Privileges, is excellent reading as well!)
If you don’t mind something a little “grittier”, James Patterson’s Det. Michael Bennett series is about a NYC detective who is Catholic, has ten kids, and whose grandfather is a priest!
 
Robert Hugh Benson is a great Catholic convert and a tremendous author from around the turn of the last century. Two books to recommend of his:

Come Rack, Come Rope – a story about the English -]apostasy/-] (a/k/a English reformation)

Lord of the Word – an apocalyptic novel that will, even though it is over 100 years old, shock you with how prescient it is.

One book I’d highly recommend is With God in Russia by Walter Ciszek. Although it is nonfiction (an autobiography), it is extremely riveting reading.
 
bluerose highlighted Louis de Wohl. I just wanted to let you know that he has written a large number of novels of the saints of the Church. Ignatius Press sells a lot of them.

Betsy
 
jonpd said:
The Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are among my favorites. A series about a 12th century monk who solves murder mysteries. There is much detail in the stories about 12th century life in England and monastic life in particular. The older stories in the series are out of print but you can get used copies through Amazon or other booksellers.
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You’re right! How did I forget to put Brother Cadfael on my list? By all means, get hold of Brother Cadfael!
 
GloriousOrder said:
If you like historical fiction, you really ought to read a certain book documenting a fictional Knight of St. John during the Siege of Malta in 1565. You might expect such a book to be full of cursing and rather scandalous behaviour, but it is written by a devoted and committed Roman Catholic! The title is: Angels in Iron, and it was written by Nicholas Prata. Perhaps you might dislike historical fiction or violent Catholic fiction; however, it was a crucial moment in the history of Christ’s Church! 🙂
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I second this recommendation; awesome book, had me choked up on a couple of occasions!

+1 here also for Brother Cadfael, There’s a BBC series you can buy on DVD as well, based on the books. Derek Jacobi plays the lead role.
 
jakobsprenger said:
I second this recommendation; awesome book, had me choked up on a couple of occasions!

+1 here also for Brother Cadfael, There’s a BBC series you can buy on DVD as well, based on the books. Derek Jacobi plays the lead role.
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Yes, it was Derek Jacobi’s portrayal of Cadfael which inspired me to order the books and read them. I was able to order them through the Book of the Month Club.
 
Another Catholic author I remember from high school is Morris West - The Devils Advocate and The Shoes of the Fisherman are both good.
 
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