CHRISTINE ROUX

by Thames Williamson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 9, 1945

A new line for Thames Williamson (remember Woods Colt and various and sundry juveniles under various and sundry pseudonyms?) -- as he crosses to the continent for a faintly flavored period portrait of a convent girl, forced by circumstances to leave her chosen life behind walls. Christine Roux, a dedicated novice, and a religious by indoctrination rather than nature, goes to Paris after the 1905 closing of all French convents where she is exposed to the crude pursuit of Theo, a stallman, accidentally met, and the more cautious overtures of her employer, Julien Gautier, who is attracted by her inviolability. Refusing to accept her more earthly inclinations, Christine splits with Julien when she finds him involved with her friend, tries to enter a convent in Indo-China but is told by the priest that human love is also godly, and in her case, a better way of life for her. Finding Julien no longer waiting for her, she accepts Theo. A delicate handling of the conflict of senses set against spirit, passion against prudery, convincing enough, though there's a strange elusive impression of its being outmoded. The jacket will make it somewhat inevitable that the book be classified as a religious novel. It is hardly that, though Christine's instinctive turning to the cloistered life as an escape is part of the psychological approach.

Pub Date: Nov. 9, 1945

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Current Books

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1945

Categories: FICTION