THE SUBLIME SHEPHERDESS

by Frances Parkinson Keyes ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The life of St. Bernadette of Lourdes delightfully told by Mrs. Keyes as she raced the war across France and finished her work on a French freighter carrying stranded and panicky Americans across the Atlantic. Briefly it is the story of a frail little shepherdess without food, lodgings or even material necessities who went in search of kindling and in the Grotto near the Grove she came face to face with a beautiful lady. The first part compasses the trials of fulfilling her promise to return, the successive appearances, the church's fears, the civil authorities' refusal to allow Bernadette or the crowds that followed her to go to the Grotto: then her schooling and finally the Bishop's admission that the child had seen Our Lady and the building of the Cathedral at Lourdes. Part two takes her to the convent to be happy and miserable under wicked Mother General who took pleasure in humiliating those she was not worthy of touching far less disciplining. The reader can't help hoping she is humiliated in the world beyond. The book is written with the greatest simplicity befitting its heroine and adding greatly to its charm and sense of conviction. Although Mrs. Keyes was converted to the Roman Catholic Church last summer the book is not the least tainted with over-enthusiasm nor any effort to proselyte. As the story reads like a fairy tale it should not be limited to the Religious Table. Any Catholic, Roman or Anglo, would enjoy it as a biography. Plus sale in juvenile edition.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Messner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1940

Categories: NONFICTION