The Quiet Light: A Novel About Saint Thomas Aquinas [Paperback]

Louis De Wohl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

Louis de Wohl presents a stimulating historical novel about the great St. Thomas Aquinas, set against the violent background of the Italy of the Crusades.

Product Details

• Paperback: 377 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898705959
• ISBN-13: 978-0898705959
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars De Wohl: A Sustained Light of Genius..., November 28, 2001

By 

Earl Merkel "earl" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quiet Light: A Novel About Saint Thomas Aquinas (Paperback)

I could not have been older than 12 when I first read Louis De Wohl's THE QUIET LIGHT.

It was certainly not a children's book. Instead, it was the passed-along gift of an aunt --fittingly, a Daughter of Charity who in those days sported the intimidating wings that Sally Field would later demystify for me-- and one of the many books on a wide range of genres and topics she carried on long train rides from El Paso to St. Louis.

THE QUIET LIGHT also was, I believe, instrumental in sparking my earliest desire to write my own novels.

And that is surprising, because De Wohl's narrative, character development, and spellbinding prose made THE QUIET LIGHT much more than the fictionalized biography of Thomas Aquinas I had expected. It was nothing less than a staggering example of compelling storytelling which, by the sheer enormity of talent displayed, should have intimidated any aspiring/wanna-be writer.

Be advised: you will come away from THE QUIET LIGHT with more than the pleasure of having read a masterly crafted novel of the Middle Ages. Rather, you will find yourself informed and educated on everything from the Crusades to the philosopical infighting then being waged throughout both Europe and the Saracen worlds to the intrigues of the Italian nobility and their Germanic, decidedly unholy Holy Roman Emperor. You will marvel at how De Wohl weaves all this into a story that is filled with richly drawn characters, both historical and fictional.

By the end of THE QUIET LIGHT, you may even discover you have learned something about how to tell a story in a way that makes the reader mourn that he or she has reached the end of the book.

THE QUIET LIGHT is that good. So is Louis De Wohl.

--Earl Merkel
(Author of FLU SEASON and LIKE DISTANT CITIES BURNING, Penguin/Putnam's New American Library; both books are due out in Summer 2001).

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars edifying, March 13, 2000

By 

Lisa Mapa - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quiet Light: A Novel About Saint Thomas Aquinas (Paperback)

This edifying novel about the life of St. Thomas Aquinas actually focuses on the people who were all touched by his serene, cheerful, ascetic way of living. Carefully told through the eyes of the faithful knight-turned friar-turned knight again, his devoted sister, his protective mother, his arrogant brothers, and his fellow priests, the story reveals to us how a simple man brought spiritual strength and renewal to those around him, during a time of great political turmoil. The author does not tell the story through the lips of St. Thomas. At times, we may even feel cheated, thinking to ourselves that the story deviates too much from the simple life of the Dominican monk, to focus on the other characters. However, this ingenious manner of story-telling alludes fittingly to the way Thomas lived: quietly, doing the work of God, contemplating on mysteries only he shared with God, praying for those he loved, and discreetly staying away from all the attention he deserved.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but driven more by context than St. Thomas Aquinas., February 23, 1999

By 

Michael McFarland ([e-mail] (Bidwell, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quiet Light: A Novel About Saint Thomas Aquinas (Paperback)

In a panoramic fashion, Louis De Wohl makes accessible certain 13th Century aspects and personalities. We discover kings and warriors, court intrigue and noble family feuds, mild brutality and saintly virtue, knights and monastic settings. There is even courtly romance, and an insightful portrayal of the birth of science. Saint Thomas Aquinas is situated very quietly around the edges of the dynamic action of the book. Perhaps too quietly. For the story tells far more about events that happened, or could have happened, than it does about the work and life of St. Thomas. In fairness, however, it manages to relay popular Thomas stories, and provides a sampling of that giant and saintly intellect. So I recomend this book to anyone interested in Saint Thomas, or 13th Century Europe. It is a suitable family book, and would interest readers of historical novels. The work accomplishes making one feel both the frantic upheavals of Medieval Europe, and the reassuring order of Faith and Reason, that St.Thomas did so much to discover and invigorate.