In This Vale of Tears
Description
MYSTERY, ROMANCE AND THE OCCULT
Virginia Pearson and the beautiful Aine O'Riordan are among a group of young women entering the convent of the Sisters of the Suffering Saviour. Strange happenings torment the sensitive and withdrawn Aine O'Riordan. Virginia tries to comfort her, but the dark, mysterious events force Aine out of the convent. Deeply saddened, she leaves behind her dear friend to deal with the unexplained happenings and an atmosphere of foreboding that seems to infect the life of the convent.
Virginia (later Sister Agnes), suspicious of fellow postulant Margaret McGuigan's (later Sister Catherine) role in the convent's atmosphere, enters into a barely suppressed conflict with her through their religious training to their university course in 1962. The intrusion of Virginia Pearson's resentful former fiancé, senior lecturer Dr Philip Stevenson, into her life as Sister Agnes adds a severe, unexpected problem. She is still in love with him. To worsen her guilt about breaking off the engagement, Philip seems to be in self-destruct mode.
Meanwhile, Aine has been lured into the world of fashion modelling and appears unaware of where personable photographer, Harry, is leading her. She unwittingly plays a connecting role in the deepening conflict and the continuing mysteries that see Virginia and Aine each rushing towards a crisis.
This is a long novel with several subplots, amounting to three novels in one.
The SIXTIES SERIES will consist of eight connected but stand-alone stories. The cultural revolution of the 1960s (1960-1975) and the Second Vatican Council are the social, cultural, and political background. The author who lived through the turmoil of those times recreates its atmosphere. The themes of neo-paganism and Gnosticism are threads through the stories.
Book 1 Times of Distress
Book 2 In this Vale of Tears
Book 3 Counterculture Dreams
Book 4 The Counterculture Goddess (2025)
Book 5 Love in the Counterculture (2026)
Book 6 Dreams to Nightmare (2027)
Book 7 The Castle of Heavenly Bliss
Book 8 A Sense of Loss 2028
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Person
After a lifetime working in the book business (mostly educational publishing) I now concentrate on my writing.
One of my formative experiences was living in Holland with my Dutch wife for two and a half years. On returning to Australia, I completed a major in Dutch Language and Literature before a master's degree in philosophy. My studies and immersion in another culture and language, together with my Catholic faith, form the biggest influences on my writing. But shaping those influences are my mother and father. One could not have more principled parents.
My master's thesis was on Edmund Burke whose thought permeates my writing. My preoccupations are social and cultural from a Catholic and (Burkean) conservative perspective. This reflects my acceptance of the Catholic idea of the reciprocal relationship between faith and reason.
My favourite fiction authors are Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Evelyn Waugh. Evelyn Waugh's style and mastery of English have been my biggest influence ? not in vain, I hope. My favourite modern non-fiction author is philosopher Roger Scruton. I spend my leisure time reading and occasionally walking along the nearby shores of Port Phillip Bay. I love opera, musicals, and the ballet (The Nutcracker is my favourite.) I enjoy fifties rock 'n' roll and forties big band. Mozart is my favourite classical composer, but I am acquiring a liking for Bach.
My novels are in the genre of the 'Catholic novel'. They are in the style of Catholic novelists Evelyn Waugh, Grahame Greene, and Morris West. I deal with similar political, philosophical, and moral issues. The difference from general fiction is the assumed philosophical framework. Most modern fiction assumes a materialist framework while the Catholic novel assumes a natural law framework (See the 'Catholic Novel' page on my website.) Finally, there is always a romantic content in my stories. Love relationships are an incisive way of exploring the human person.
