A Saint, More or Less: A Novel - Softcover

Grunwald, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812970810 ISBN 13: 9780812970814

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2005

Synopsis

When Nicole Tavernier, a mysterious healer, arrives in Paris in the mid-1500s, the lives of ordinary citizens, religious leaders, and members of the aristocracy are utterly transformed. Taken under the wing of the pious and politically influential Acarie family, Tavernier pursues her mission under the watchful eye and religious guidance of Barbe Acarie, a woman much admired in the Catholic community.

When Nicole comes to the attention of Henry of Navarre, the future king of France, Barbe grows to distrust the younger woman, whose past is cloaked in secrecy. One of these two women is a candidate to become a saint–but which is the true one? An intense, silent struggle between them leads to scandalous charges and an explosive confrontation, as each woman confronts issues of doctrine, faith, and belief, as well as her own nature–and questions about religion and society that are still relevant today.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Henry Grunwald makes sixteenth-century France under King Henry IV come vividly alive in A Saint, More or Less, as he explores, through the story of two women, the still timely subject of how politics, power, passions, and religious belief can intersect with explosive results.

When Nicole Tavernier, a mysterious healer, arrives in Paris in the mid-1500s, the lives of ordinary citizens, religious leaders, and members of the Parisian aristocracy are utterly changed. Taken under the wing of the pious and politically influential Acarie family, Nicole pursues her mission under the watchful eye and religious guidance of Barbe Acarie, a woman much admired in the Catholic community. When Nicole comes to the attention of Henry of Navarre, the future king of France, Barbe Acarie grows to distrust the younger woman, whose past is cloaked in secrecy. A silent struggle between the two leads to charges of demonic possession, an exorcism, and a climactic confrontation, each woman facing down the other and herself.

In A Saint, More or Less, Henry Grunwald writes with a keen understanding of church and state, of how religious belief can be manipulated by those in power to achieve their own political ends. This finely crafted novel also raises questions about the role in belief of passion and doubt. One of these two women is a candidate to become a saint—but which is the true one? A Saint, More or Less illuminates a rich period in history as two women struggle with doctrine, faith, belief, their own natures, and questions about religion and society that are still relevant today.
From the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover:

“Grunwald simply weds a graceful, economic prose to a lucid vision of his changed world—exactly what we would expect from such a distinguished journalist—and produces a lovely book.”
—The New York Times Book Review, about Twilight

“Percolates with anecdote, insight and charm...Mr. Grunwald presents a tender picture of his adopted country, his powerful company and a time gone by....Seldom has [the postwar era] been portrayed with more sensitivity and vividness than in the pages of this book.”
—The New York Times Book Review,
about One Man’s America

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0812970810
• ISBN 13: 9780812970814
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256