Good Catholic fiction

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I’d like some catholic fiction books to read, since some of the books we are assigned at school have less than moral topics and situations, (and tend to put those themes in a positive light) and lots of young adult books are too “adult” for my taste. I read reviews for Agnes’ Gift, ans A Single Bead, and they seem good. However, my public library has, quite literally, only a few books that have catholic themes or don’t bash Catholicism. Any recommendations?
 
The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings are the first that come to my mind.
 
777rak said:
The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings are the first that come to my mind.
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Not as well known as the Chonicles, C. S. Lewis also wrote his Space Trilogy. His other fiction is good, though deeper. BTW, Lewis was often rumored to become Catholic, but he never did. We still claim him as an honorary RC. He remained Anglican.

G. K. Chesterton, Flannery O’Connor, Robert Hugh Benson also come to mind. If you describe more specifically what kind of fiction interests you, I am sure the thread will help you out.
 
The novels of Michael D. O’Brien are great Catholic fiction.

Look up reviews of “Father Elijah”, “Island of the World”. and many others he has written.

Very deep and inspiring!
 
I’m not a fan of most “Catholic” fiction - some of it is not exactly edifying. But there are three Catholic novels I love & have reread multiple times: The Mass of Brother Michel by Michael Kent, The World, the Flesh and Father Smith by Bruce Marshall, and In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden.

Rumer Godden wasn’t Catholic, but she wrote a great Catholic novel.
 
Bonnie said:
I’m not a fan of most “Catholic” fiction - some of it is not exactly edifying. But there are three Catholic novels I love & have reread multiple times: The Mass of Brother Michel by Michael Kent, The World, the Flesh and Father Smith by Bruce Marshall, and In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden.

Rumer Godden wasn’t Catholic, but she wrote a great Catholic novel.
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Thanks Bonnie, I hadn’t heard of a single one of those. I’m actually going to seek those out. The first author that leaps to my mind is Graham Greene, even though I know he personally objected to the “Catholic writer” label. But after reading approximately fifteen or so of his novels, he’s batting a thousand, so even if his stories don’t revolve around Catholicism itself, they’re still a lot of fun. 🤷 He’s certainly compulsively readable. I’ve heard him described as “Faith Noir,” which seems pretty spot on to me.

Oh, and by the way, the Michel Kent one is crazy expensive on Amazon, but I’m sure I can have the libray track it down.

Also, there’s a very famous Catholic novel called The Diary of a Country Priest, by Georges Bernanos, that’s probably worth looking into. I haven’t read the book, but they made a fantastic film out of it, which is totally worth watching.
 
Exiled_Child said:
Oh, and by the way, the Michel Kent one is crazy expensive on Amazon, but I’m sure I can have the libray track it down.
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Good luck on that! That’s why it’s on my never-loan list - I know I wouldn’t be able to afford another copy.
 
commenter said:
Not as well known as the Chonicles, C. S. Lewis also wrote his Space Trilogy. His other fiction is good, though deeper. BTW, Lewis was often rumored to become Catholic, but he never did. We still claim him as an honorary RC. He remained Anglican.
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Nice that you claim CS Lewis; the Mormons do too. And yes, he was born and died an Anglican.
 
Have you read old standards such as ‘The Cardinal’ by Henry Morton Robinson, The ‘Nun’s Story’ by Kathryn Hulme? Or ‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh? Or ‘Mariette in Ecstasy’ by Ron Hansen.
 
And speaking of CS Lewis my favorite is the Screwtape Letters. Read this every Lent!
 
I just remembered Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. Very good! I first read it because I mistook it for a murder mystery. By the time I realized it wasn’t, I couldn’t put it down.
 
Exiled_Child said:
Thanks Bonnie, I hadn’t heard of a single one of those. I’m actually going to seek those out.

Oh, and by the way, the Michel Kent one is crazy expensive on Amazon, but I’m sure I can have the libray track it down.
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There are copies at Mount Angel Abbey/Seminary and also at the University of Portland according to this website:

theolog.on.worldcat.org/oclc/279918

It might be cheaper to drive down to the Abbey (they take visitors/overnight guests and the abbey is lovely) than to purchase the book.
 
jeannetherese said:
There are copies at Mount Angel Abbey/Seminary and also at the University of Portland according to this website:

theolog.on.worldcat.org/oclc/279918

It might be cheaper to drive down to the Abbey (they take visitors/overnight guests and the abbey is lovely) than to purchase the book.
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Thanks Jeanne! I totally love Portland, and I know people there, but for the life of me I can’t get all their colleges and universities straight. I think that’s probably a huge reason why Portland is so energetic and fun - 'cause there’s gotta be at least six or seven different colleges there. 🤷 I dunno, but it’s like a perpetually young town, and there’s always a huge ton of student age people everywhere. Which makes it a very fun city. I know a guy who works at the Science/Medical college, whatever it’s called, the one with the Disneyland-esque cable tram car whatchamacallit going down the mountain. (OHSU?) I dunno, interlibrary loans are the greatest thing ever, as far as I’m concerned. 🤷

But each of those three novels looks like they pack a wallop judging by what Bonnie said, and from Amazon reviewers, too. I just always have the idiotic impulse to seek out the rarest, most difficult to find first! 😛
 
Exiled_Child said:
I know a guy who works at the Science/Medical college, whatever it’s called, the one with the Disneyland-esque cable tram car whatchamacallit. I dunno, interlibrary loans are the greatest thing ever, as far as I’m concerned. 🤷
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One of these days I’m going to ride on that! My sister & her husband both went to OHSU & are sort of ticked that the tram wasn’t built when they were in school - finding parking was horrendous.

You might want to check out the library at the University of Portland run by the Holy Cross priests. I don’t know how often they do it, but they do have book sales where they get rid of old books. When I lived close enough, I got some great books cheap.
 
I’m sure there’s a thread on here (several, in fact) about good Catholic fiction for adults, teens, and children.

And yes, I highly recommend KayCee’s novels (search under her pen name A. J. Avila) and I hope they get wider distribution!
 
Flannery O’Connor is a classic.

Though not Catholic, stay far away from Frank Peretti. A relative recommended him because I enjoy some horror/suspense/thriller stuff and his was in the bottom of the barrel. Then again I’m not entirely sure that he deserves being mentioned in the same sentence as barrels for that would be an insult to barrels.
 
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