Do you love a good read? Have I got one for you! I discovered an excellent novel which I wholeheartedly recommend. Initially stalling on page one, I began again and this time infection struck, and I couldn’t put it down. I ended up shelving all other tasks and finished the story in four sittings. It is an amazingly well-written book, at times flowing with lyrical descriptions, at other times moving with the rough and tumble of a life lived in close quarters, and having for good measure, the occasional comic interlude.

The author, Christopher Osgood, writes a captivating tale called This Remigius, set in a Protestant Benedictine monastic house where Remigius lives as one of the brothers. The story depicts the challenges of communal life complicated by some political interjections by the Bishop. The monastic life the author describes is no tame Sunday School stroll in the park. These brothers in Christ are dealing with many of the same issues faced by siblings in close quarters, complicated by the churchly and academic nature of their callings: rivalries, jealousies, and irritations that lead to flared tempers, thrown punches, and the occasional explosive expletive.

Yet Osgood manages to depict it artfully, doing honor to the brothers, while weaving into the mix a colorful homeless person who latches onto Remigius early in the story because she wants to talk and manages to make Remigius a subject of talk.  Yet none of the characters in this tale are caricatures but rather are drawn in the complicated ways that portray a life both very much in and of the world, yet set apart by their calling.  It is the reader’s privilege to be brought into that world, watching physical afflictions elevate the importance of what Remegius saw.

The author crafts an insider’s view of modern scriptural based signs and wonders soon to be unleashed at an upcoming conference of the academic academy. This Remigius, about whom talk is circulating, is preparing to present a major address at the annual meeting of the academy. The complaint of the Bishop and the ire of the academy are intensified because Remigius has had the audacity to prepare his paper, not standing on the shoulders of the academic giants already published in the field, but on his own reading of the text. This chutzpah creates uproar before the academy even convened.

According to a review on Amazon,

The author’s undergraduate degree in Animal Husbandry was followed much later in life by graduate degrees in Theology; the first from an Episcopal seminary, the second from a Jesuit seminary, both associated with the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. His spiritual advisor over the term of these studies was a protestant Benedictine monk. The author currently resides in Tucson with his wife, Jeanne. The revised Gold Metal edition may only be purchased as new.

I would urge you to take a look at Amazon as This Remigius would make the perfect gift for yourself and also for that bibliophile on your shopping list who is still capable of believing in miracles.