THE WONDERFUL WAY

by Frank A. Clarvoe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 1956

A story that grows in stature as the central character develops. At the start, when we meet Wilford Hollester as an arrogantly sure senior, convinced that the world is his oyster and he need depend on nobody, the text reads like a story of boys, a story with a sure moral. Then, bit by bit, as Hollester learns that life is made up of interdependence, that his mother, in death, conveys her gift of life to him, that his education/was owed to others, he begins to grow out of his shell. The decision to study for the ministry, the set-back- as the bishop doubts his fitness- the interlude at the lumber camp, where the gift of men's friendship is something that must be earned, all lead up to the period of preparation- and his assignment to a milltown mission district, instead of the comfortable city parish he had envisioned. Again he has drawn back into his shell of self-assurance. Again that shell has to be cracked. He almost loses in his first months of rigid determination not to conform. He quarrels with his vestry. He makes enemies- and some friends. But gradually, people penetrate the shell, and it takes one small boy, clubfooted and orphaned, to complete the healing and set the growing process on a sure path. There's a spiritual message here, implicit in the subject, but growing out of the character.

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1956

Categories: FICTION