Stories of the Saints

January 20, 2020
In this entertaining collection of profiles of saints, novelist Wallace (The Blind Contessa’s New Machine) introduces Christian martyrs, each with a spiritual idiosyncrasy that earns its particular patronage. While the vignettes reveal the brutality Christians suffered for their faith, Wallace’s prose is evocative and reverent. She opens with 2nd-century CE Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, and weaves chronologically to end with Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa). Each biographical sketch begins with the date, location where the saint lived or is known, emblem, patronage, and feast day, culminating in legends about the saints amplified by Thornborrow’s luminous ink illustrations. Wallace neatly highlights moments when the spiritual heroes, often at odds with Roman authority, are put to the test: Lawrence (the patron saint of comedians, chefs, and firefighters) said, while being roasted on an iron grill over hot coals, “This side is roasted. Turn me over”; Mud made from Christopher’s blood following his beheading miraculously repaired the eye of the king who sentenced him to death; Catherine of Siena debated philosophers while Francis of Assisi healed animals of every kind. Wallace’s accounts of the lives of saints will appeal any Christian, particularly those who read graphic novels.

January 15, 2020
A modern book of the saints. Wallace presents the stories, actual or apocryphal, of 80 men and women who served God so well that they were elevated to sainthood after their deaths, arranged chronologically from Polycarp (69-156 C.E.) to Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997). Each two- to three-page account includes where the saint lived, who they are considered patron of, and their emblem and feast day. The saints included span centuries and cultures, including well-known figures such as Joan of Arc and Thomas Aquinas, more obscure ones like Mary of Egypt and John Nepomucene, and those from non-Western cultures such as Josephine Bakhita, who originally came from Sudan, and Martin de Porres, a mixed-race Peruvian of African and European descent. Wallace points out in her introduction that while some saints' stories are historically documented, others, particularly the very early ones, are more along the lines of folktakes. "Just because we can't be sure a story really happened doesn't mean it isn't true in another way." That's good, since some of them are frankly gruesome--Lucy with her eyes plucked out and handed to her on a dish, calmly reinserts them and can still see--as well as perplexing. Wallace presents them all with quiet confidence that the stories matter, and she convinces us that they do. Thornborrow's illustrations combine traditional iconography with modern graphic art, effectively dramatizing each tale. Unusual, well done, and useful in many settings. (Religion. 8-adult)

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