THE UNKNOWN ANGEL

The Silver Jubilee of 1935 marks the final phase of Dr. Philip Auguste Riberac's search for the missing fragment of a priceless panel he has been able to rescue from oblivion, the Vaucluse Angel, and for his missing mistress, Alexandra Hood, whose companionship has coincided with his successful assembly of the Angel. His preocupation with archeology and with his inheritance from his aunt has finally estranged Andra, leaving him with little clue to her background and associations and, after ten years, starting from scratch to try to locate her. One person leads to another, each reveals some new fact and facet of her personality, mirrored in the experiences Andra herself has gone through. For she has retreated and learned something of her small powers, has tried and fought for the channels of prayer and the strength of freedom, and is now agreeing to help another by coming out of her welcome anonymity as a cleaning woman at the Victoria and Albert museum. Here are two seekers -- one by profession and one through personal need -- finding the way, through circumstance, through people, through humility conquering pride, through inner and outer revelations, in which they can be together again with love and trust. The contrast of the realist and the mystic converges on to a level of acceptance while the search is accompanied by a multi-figured panel of characters. A book that is not easy to place definitely, this has its chance on the author's name, on its feeling for the importance of spiritual fidelity and intercession -- and in its sublimated romance.