"Valerie Martin's biography of St. Francis begins at the end of the
saint's life, as his ravaged body is carried in secret from Siena
to Assisi. . . . The scene's focus on politics and intrigue, its
frank detail and its eloquent, restrained prose provide an apt
introduction to this interesting book. Martin isn't interested in
providing another hagiography of a much-written-about saint. Her
focus lingers instead on what he made happen, and on the lives
affected by a baffling, unpredictable man. . . [Martin's] strange,
introspective Francesco is very different from the familiar St.
Francis who preaches to birds and effortlessly wins converts. [Her]
depiction of Francis through the eyes of his followers is her
greatest achievement. Relating their devotion as well as their
confusion, she paints a subtle and contradictory portrait of a holy
personality -- baffling and frustrating, sometimes offensive, but
also radiant."
-Erin McGraw, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"Stimulating. . . . Although it is classified as biography,"
Salvation "is constructed and reads like a novel. Medieval history
it may be, but this is very closely observed stuff . . . Martin
gradually backtracks through one episode after another--the
phenomenon of Francis' stigmata, his adventures on the fifth
crusade, his relationship with St. Clare and his growing band of
followers, his hedonism as a youth, the moment when he overcomes
his revulsion at being near lepers and recognizes his vocation.
Martin chose this device because she decided the chronological
approach was not the way people looked at things in the Middle
Ages, and because she wished to create suspense, starting with what
everybody knows, andworking toward the much less familiar. In a
sense, it is a progression from darkness to light, which is a very
spiritual approach, and it is brilliantly done." -Geoffrey
Moorhouse, "New York Times Book Review"
"Literate, sympathetic vignettes from the life of St. Francis of
Assisi...Novelist Martin puts her storytelling skills to good use
in this impressionistic, respectful appreciation of Sr. Francis's
life. Many of the scenes are so well realized that they resemble
tableaux vivantes: Francesco di Pietro Bernadone's repudiation of
his family wealth for a life of poverty, his mysterious acquisition
of stigmata after weathering a mountaintop storm, his conversations
with crusading knights and dangerous beasts, his painful death-all
these spring to life from the page. Drawing on a wealth of
documentary evidence, the author takes pains to emphasize that
'though San Francesco was a great mystic, he was also entirely of
this world, ' with all the attendant urges and frailties.
Martin['s] nuanced, thoughtful portrait of the medieval Italian
reformer, so torn between manhood and sainthood, will be of great
appeal to many."
-"Kirkus" (starred review)
"In painting these central scenes from the life of one of the most
extraordinary saints ever to have lived, Valerie Martin has
succeeded in rendering holiness visible, tangible, and something
worth hungering for. "Salvation" is at once Giottoesque and Gothic,
terrifying and consoling. Here is Francis stripped to his
essentials, a frail human being with a will of iron, freeing
himself of everything in order to fix his full attention on the
voice in the whirlwind, and receiving in turn the lovescape that
transformed him and the worldforever. Be careful. This is one of
those rare books with the grace and power to change your life."
--Paul Mariani, author of The "Broken Tower: The Life of Hart
Crane
""Valerie Martin has the artistry to render a great life in a
series of perfect miniatures. Viewed in light of the religious and
social turmoil of his day, San Francesco's joyful intransigence
seems at once heroic and deeply human."
-Cathleen Medwick, author of "Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a
Soul
""An unusual look at the life and times of St. Francis...[and] a
contemporary homage to the anonymous 14th Century collection of
tales of St. Francis and his followers known as "The Little Flowers
of St. Francis." . . . Martin has a great touch for vivid detail,
for landscape settings, for qualities of light and times of day.
Her scene of the saint's hallucinatory encounter with demons has
terrific immediacy, clarity and humor. Her evocation of the hollow
silence that swallows a band of crusaders as they enter a besieged
city whose inhabitants have been murdered by the plague is ghostly
and chilling. If Martin's handling of her subject matter were a
style of art, it would be International Gothic, decorative, her
outdoor scenes bejeweled with sparkling dew. An aesthetic St.
Francis is one who commands our attention, who draws us
irresistibly toward a still point of wonder and self-reflection." -
Thomas Simpson, "Chicago Tribune
""A compelling tale of sacrifice, the spiritual experience of true
poverty, the founding of the Franciscans and petty infighting among
the brothers. Most importantly, it is the story of a faith that is
deep, dedicated and all-encompassing, informing the life of this
saintlyman."
-Valerie Ryan, "The Oregonian
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