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Revelations
Naughton, Virginia, in the late 1950s was a town of old money, even older prejudice, and deeply rooted complacency. It should have been obvious to the lay leaders of the Episcopal Church that an unorthodox and troubled man like Thomas Lewis Buckford was not the right choice for pastor of Trinity Church. Tom Buckford is a man in spiritual bankruptcy. His marriage is an empty shell. The wealth and snobbery of his new parish make a mockery of his ideals, and despair has blotted out his love of God. Then Tom meets Elizabeth McEwen and sets out on a course of disaster. Tom and Elizabeth fall in love with the famished hunger of long deprivation. But this forbidden love affair soon leaps beyond the bounds of physical passion to become a consuming spiritual awakening. Just as she did in A Book of Angels, Sophy Burnham has created a magnificent portrait of the mystery, the wonder, and the searing beauty of spiritual experience. Filled with stunning insight and riveting drama, Revelations is ultimately a story of confrontation between God's will and man's, between good and evil, between the material and the spiritual, between human laws and transcendent love.
488 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
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12 people want to read
About the author
Sophy Burnham
37 books56 followersSophy Burnham is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and non-fiction writer. Three of her books have appeared on THE NEW YORK TIMES and other best seller lists. Her works have been translated into twenty-four languages. Her articles and essays have been published in ESQUIRE, NEW YORK, THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, TOWN & COUNTRY, READER'S DIGEST and many other magazines. In addition to her theater interests, she is a psychic or intuitive, a healer, and a spiritual director. She lives in Washington D.C. New novel, 'Love, Alba' coming summer 2015!
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 1, 2019
Jan 31 2019 ~~ Review coming tomorrow. Lots to ponder here.
Feb 1 ~~ Still working on my Encore list of titles that need to be re-read before I can decide whether or not to keep them. This 1992 book will definitely be sticking around!
I first read Sophy Burnham's Book Of Angels many years ago and snapped this one up when it came out. I was surprised that so few people on GR have read it, and as of Feb 1 2019 there were no other reviews at all. I wonder why? I know the author has a reputation for spiritual books, and this one is that to a great deal, but it is also earthy and dramatic, sometimes even coarse and ugly. So where are all the readers?
Well, I guess it should only matter to me that i read it and loved it, right?
Revelations tells the story of Tom Buckford and how his life changed after he came to Naughton Virginia as rector of the local Episcopal church. His life and everyone else's as well. The story takes place in late 1950's Virginia, in small town that is very very Southern in outlook. Tom never fits in, he seems to make powerful enemies every time he turns around, and worse yet (in the eyes of the town) he does not have that very very Southern outlook on life that keeps certain people in 'their place'.
Besides all that, he is on a spiritual quest of his own, which I would assume any rector or priest or preacher or whatever title you use should be. But Tom's path begins to diverge from the accepted and scripted way his church's doctrines teach. What triggers his enhanced vision? What will happen to the town and the people around him as he begins to share it?
The story is told by John Woods, who identifies himself towards the end of chapter one. He is eighty years old and writing the story both from memory (he was a major player in those events 30 years before) and journals given to him by another major player. John was a good narrator, but also had issues of his own, which came to light as the book went along. How did Tom's time in Naughton affect John and his own life?
I could hardly put this book down. It can be brutal at times, though. There is more than one scene of domestic violence that will disturb any reader. And although I was interested in the religious/spiritual debates carried on between Tom and other characters, some people might not care for them. This is not a preachy book, but it does show a difference, or rather a clashing between what a church is and what it could be. Organized religion meeting individual discovery was one of the main themes here. I know what I believe, but if you believe differently this book may offend you the way Tom offended many of the 1950's era mindsets in Naughton.
In one way this is a story of a man who was ahead of his time. How would he be received today? Would he scare people as much now as he did then? Have we matured at all since the 50's? I wonder.
Feb 1 ~~ Still working on my Encore list of titles that need to be re-read before I can decide whether or not to keep them. This 1992 book will definitely be sticking around!
I first read Sophy Burnham's Book Of Angels many years ago and snapped this one up when it came out. I was surprised that so few people on GR have read it, and as of Feb 1 2019 there were no other reviews at all. I wonder why? I know the author has a reputation for spiritual books, and this one is that to a great deal, but it is also earthy and dramatic, sometimes even coarse and ugly. So where are all the readers?
Well, I guess it should only matter to me that i read it and loved it, right?
Revelations tells the story of Tom Buckford and how his life changed after he came to Naughton Virginia as rector of the local Episcopal church. His life and everyone else's as well. The story takes place in late 1950's Virginia, in small town that is very very Southern in outlook. Tom never fits in, he seems to make powerful enemies every time he turns around, and worse yet (in the eyes of the town) he does not have that very very Southern outlook on life that keeps certain people in 'their place'.
Besides all that, he is on a spiritual quest of his own, which I would assume any rector or priest or preacher or whatever title you use should be. But Tom's path begins to diverge from the accepted and scripted way his church's doctrines teach. What triggers his enhanced vision? What will happen to the town and the people around him as he begins to share it?
The story is told by John Woods, who identifies himself towards the end of chapter one. He is eighty years old and writing the story both from memory (he was a major player in those events 30 years before) and journals given to him by another major player. John was a good narrator, but also had issues of his own, which came to light as the book went along. How did Tom's time in Naughton affect John and his own life?
I could hardly put this book down. It can be brutal at times, though. There is more than one scene of domestic violence that will disturb any reader. And although I was interested in the religious/spiritual debates carried on between Tom and other characters, some people might not care for them. This is not a preachy book, but it does show a difference, or rather a clashing between what a church is and what it could be. Organized religion meeting individual discovery was one of the main themes here. I know what I believe, but if you believe differently this book may offend you the way Tom offended many of the 1950's era mindsets in Naughton.
In one way this is a story of a man who was ahead of his time. How would he be received today? Would he scare people as much now as he did then? Have we matured at all since the 50's? I wonder.
Displaying 1 of 1 review