The Empty Shrine
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- Synopsis
- This is a ticklish subject--the question of the authenticity of a vision experienced by a child, and the part played in exploiting it by avaricious adults who seek their own gain. William Barrett, with extraordinary sensitivity and understanding, has told the story well, and, up to the very closing pages, holds the reader--whether Protestant or Catholic--in the perceptive unfolding of this tale. The setting is an island in the St. Lawrence--Ile aux Erables, not far in miles from Quebec, but insulated from the outside world. The time spans 12 years, from 1945 to 1957, in the lives of the people, and particularly of the principals in the miracle: Valérie Rivard, a sensitive, lonely child of eight, who saw the vision of a lady in white stepping forth from a rocky cave; Antoine, her playmate, a fearful child, who dared not look, but believed; Robert, slightly older and a bully, unbelieving, but willing to make use of what had happened; and André, Robert's quite different brother, who believed, because he saw Valérie's radiance before the grasping adults had seized on her story, twisted it to their own ends, and destroyed for her its glory. It is this story, and its rejection, that embittered U.S. newspaperman Keller Barkley seeks for inclusion in a book he plans to write debunking shrines, visions, and miracles. He has come to the island 12 years later, and through his experiences there, the reader, too, explores what has happened and its effect on the island people.
- Copyright:
- 1958
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 322 Pages
- Publisher:
- Doubleday & Company
- Date of Addition:
- 01/18/22
- Copyrighted By:
- William E. Barrett
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Literature and Fiction, Religion and Spirituality
- Submitted By:
- Sister M. Dolores Dean
- Proofread By:
- Beverly Cory
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.