The Emmaus Readers: Listening for God in Contemporary Fiction
Starred Review. It's rare for an edited anthology to be consistently good, let alone exceptional, but this unassuming collection of essays on 12 novels with religious themes offers rich satisfaction. The essayists—all Calvin College professors and staff members—formed a group called the Emmaus readers in 2006 to better understand the role of faith in creating and interpreting fiction. The novels include overtly religious books, likeMr. Ives' ChristmasandMariette in Ecstasy, as well as less predictable choices, likeLife of Piand the graphic novelRoad to Perdition. Each chapter offers a plot synopsis, an analysis, questions for discussion and suggestions for further reading. Readers will be introduced to some novels for the first time, and will attain deeper understandings of others they already love. Fans ofPeace Like a River, for example, will delight in exploring the biblical and literary allusions of Leif Enger's Midwestern masterpiece, and many who neglected P.D. James'sChildren of Menwill expand their understanding of her story's projected dystopia. Perhaps the Emmaus readers can pen a sequel taking on novels by the likes of Graham Greene, Chaim Potok, Gail Godwin or Vinita Hampton Wright.(May)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.