THE UNSPEAKABLE

by Charles Laird Calia ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1998

Suppose a young priest believes he's been spoken to by God--an experience that's left him mute, but also possibly with healing powers. In his first outing, Calia sails close to the pseudo-religiosity of the merely uncanny, though his tale at times has an indisputable pull. In St. Paul (note name), a mute young priest named James (note name) Marbury has revivified a previously dying parish in a slummy part of town--and is rumored to have healing powers. The local bishop, concerned intensely about public relations, sends a second young priest, Peter (note name) Whitmore, to investigate and, if necessary, relieve Marbury of his duties. Marbury and Whitmore, as it happens, are old friends, having gone to seminary together in Iowa--yet not until the last note of Whitmore's investigation (it culminates on an Easter Sunday) will the two know the whole truth about each other. As Whitmore talks, and Marbury responds in sign language, a past is unfolded that reveals poverty and sorrow in both men's lives, an inadvertent death caused by each, and even outright criminality in Marbury's case. Parallels will slowly come clear, but not before the central talc in Marbury's case is told: a Pennsylvania blizzard, a bad car accident, and Marbury's finding himself snowbound in the hospital the victims were taken to. One of these, it turns out, is a woman named Helen with a husband named Jacob, not the biological father of her daughter Lucy, who--well, mysteriously dies in place of her mother. The effect on Marbury of this revisionist appearance of the Holy Family is profound, causing him effectively to black out, until he's picked up wandering around in Altoona, New York, unable to speak, finally being returned to St. Paul, where the healing will--or will it?--begin. However strained allegorically, Calia plays mainly to his strengths in giving both his characters personal history and depth enough to make--and keep--them human and real.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1997

Categories: FICTION