Whoa, what on earth did I just peruse? There was so much about clergyman sex! It's quite an interesting concept that some clergymen aren't "called to celibacy." Even though church-related matters aren't really my cup of tea, this was an excellent psychological drama. At its core, there was a rather thrilling and scandalous mystery. I will most definitely be on the lookout for Howarth's other historical fiction works.

‘The sister—the one who didn't go mad—was painfully genteel, poor thing, with a very refined accent and a ghastly way with a teacup. And my guess was that they were all upper-working-class but striving to be lower-‘idle. God, how many people are so horribly crucified,’ said the aristocratic Lady Starmouth carelessly yet with genuine feeling, ‘by the English class system.’ (p. 46)

But when Carrie fell in love with him, we said to her: ‘My dear,’ we said, ‘you simply can't marry a man called Adam Jardine—it sounds like a jobbing gardener!’ So she discovered his second name was Alexander and we renamed him Alex. (p. 56)

‘It's a terrible tragedy that there are no children. Of course, children can drive one crazy, I'm not overly sentimental about children, but they do provide a marriage with a focal point.’ (p. 59)

Monks are constantly aware of how much energy is necessary to maintain an adequate spiritual life and how much has to be expended in physical labor. (p. 193)

‘I just have the feeling that any woman can't help but view a monk as a personal insult.’ (p. 372)

Long before Dan Brown uncovered the potential of religious institutions as a fertile ground for telling a captivating story, similar to law firms and airports, Susan Howatch, the best-selling author of family sagas and historical novels, redirected her literary path. She embarked on a series of novels centered around the upper echelons of the Anglican church. In these novels, mysteries and human failings are abundant, although not as sensational as the secret codes revealing the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

In Howatch's case, her change in subject matter paralleled a personal spiritual journey that led to her commitment to high Anglicanism. Unlike many converts who, in their enthusiasm, overlook the human aspect of their newfound faith, Howatch is too astute a student of life to present an idealized portrayal. Some of her characters are saintly, yet they remain human. Her commitment is best demonstrated by her depiction of most characters as being genuine in their faith. However, the problem lies in the fact that most of them have a public facade (the glittering image) and a tormented inner life.

This inner turmoil is especially true of the narrator/protagonist, Charles Ashworth. His name is fitting as he is convinced of his unworthiness, much like ashes. But in the Christian tradition, ashes are a sign of penance, with the hope of regeneration through the death and resurrection of Christ.

The torments of all the main characters revolve around difficult marriages. It is no coincidence that the inciting incident of the book occurs shortly after a House of Lords debate in 1937 regarding a bill introduced to liberalize divorce. I won't disclose more about the plot except to say that Howatch has crafted an interesting story, filled with enough melodramatic twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. In the end, it all seemed a bit too contrived, but the journey there held my interest.

This is despite the fact that much of the plot is recounted through dialogue rather than narrated action. While it was interesting to read Howatch's description of the work of an insightful spiritual director, who is both strict and compassionate, not only this spiritual director, Jonathan Darrow, but several other characters possess an uncanny ability to analyze in a way that neatly sums up the psychological traumas of the various characters.

Howatch has clearly done her research. The necessary theological authors, both ancient and modern, are mentioned. The characters also have a tendency to use the titles of novels such as Jane Eyre, Barchester Towers, Lady Chatterley's Lover to describe their situations.

The title phrase, “Glittering Images,” appears early and recurs frequently throughout the book, but not in a consistent manner. Among the theological discussions is one about the quest for the historical Jesus, the one behind the glittering image of the Gospel accounts. Since salvation for Charles, Lyle, and others involves stripping away the image and coming to terms with the person hidden behind, it's surprising that Howatch doesn't explore what this might mean in the case of Christ.

At one point, when the Bishop of Starbridge is engaged in a verbal duel with Ashworth, who is determined to unearth a lurid secret he suspects the bishop is hiding, the bishop refers to an Agatha Christie crime story and then generalizes: “I always find the more I read that story the more intrigued I become by the narrator’s omissions and evasions.” This unreliability, as it turns out, is relevant when applied to the Bishop. But since the protagonist narrates Glittering Images, I constantly wondered when we would discover that this maxim also applies to him. In the end, it seems that he has been overly truthful; there is no indication that he is an unreliable narrator. This struck me as a bit careless on the author's part.

I also felt that the crisis leading to a resolution unfolds inconsistently. When the mystery that Ashworth has been pursuing is revealed, it becomes clear that three women were complicit in imposing a situation on the bishop. Yet, before long, Darrow seems to hold the bishop solely accountable.

Despite all these flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will likely pick up others in the series when I'm in need of some light entertainment, such as during an airplane flight.

I read this particular book many years ago. In fact, I also read at least one of its sequels. At that time, I recall quite liking the story. However, as the years have passed, I don't remember enough of the details to be able to give it a proper rating at this moment. Nevertheless, I am adding it to my list. The reason for this is that I have a feeling that at some point in the future, I may want to reread it. And not just this one book, but I might decide to read through the entire series. It could be that the memory of enjoying it before will prompt me to explore the story and the world it creates all over again.

A mediocre novel that delves into the battle within a post-World War II scholar/clergyman, torn between his inner self and his own "glittering image."

I must admit that I was rather disappointed with this work. It seemed to approach the psychological aspects in a rather superficial manner, relying too much on Freudian concepts.

While there were glimpses of potential for exploring spiritual depth, the novel unfortunately passed up these opportunities.

It failed to truly engage me on a deeper level and left me feeling that there was much more that could have been done with this interesting premise.

Overall, it was a lackluster read that did not live up to its potential.

A book that defies genres - part Christian living, part historical fiction, part trashy romance novel, part British mystery, part therapy on couch session - and all together a good read.

The middle of the book was a little slow-paced, and everything seemed to wrap up a little too neatly. However, it was still nice to read a gripping book with Christ-centered overtones.

On the second reading, instead of trying to solve the mystery, I was trying to remember it! It was still a great read. This time, 12 years later, I didn't think the middle part was slow. If anything, I thought the spiritual guidance wrapped up a little too easily. But it was still extremely good. There was so much insight into our Christian lives.

However, I do wonder why I need a book that borders on trashy in some sections to remind me to think about how to respond to situations as a Christian. Fiction can be so effective in that way.

I'm really looking forward to rereading the whole series! I'm excited to see if my perspective has changed even more since the last time I read it. Maybe I'll discover new aspects of the story that I missed before. I'm sure it will be just as enjoyable, if not more so, the next time around.

Third Reading Summary: A young and promising theology professor is dispatched to conduct an investigation into a bishop, which ultimately leads to a complex web of events including a romance, a breakdown, and a subsequent recovery.

A few months shy of a decade ago, I took this book on vacation. It was my 40th birthday, and we had publicly announced that my wife was expecting our first child. So, we embarked on our very first cruise, and I voraciously consumed the initial several books in the series. (I purchased the subsequent few books on Kindle while in port.)

Prior to reading this series, I had no real understanding of the concept of Spiritual Direction. I might have heard the words before (although, at this point, I'm not entirely certain), but it was the fictional portrayal in Glittering Images that truly made the concept click for me. Glittering Images is a somewhat melodramatic work of fiction. There are fundamental flaws in this book and the series that are more apparent to me now, with some distance, but it was still transformational. When I returned home, I inquired around for a spiritual director. However, I couldn't find anyone in my immediate vicinity to give me a recommendation. So, I looked up the directory on Spiritual Direction International (which has since changed its name to Spiritual Companions International) and contacted the one closest to me geographically, just a few minutes away from my home. (I would now recommend this directory.) Nearly ten years later, I'm still meeting with him, although he has moved twice, and for the past five years, we've been conducting video conference meetings. I began training to be a spiritual director approximately four years ago and have been working as one for several years (very part-time).

Broadly speaking, the series is historical fiction set between the 1930s and the 1960s, focusing on the clergy of the Church of England. Most of the books feature a clergyperson陷入 a spiritual and personal crisis, which often leads to a breakdown. Then, the second part of the book centers on a spiritual director who helps to explore the roots of the crisis and work towards healing together. In this particular book, Charles Ashworth, a theology professor and Cathedral Canon, is sent on a secret investigative mission to preemptively avoid what could potentially become a public disaster.

I'm not as much of a fan of the first part of these books. I don't enjoy witnessing people make poor decisions that cause problems for those around them. However, the second part is what draws me to the series, as it shows people delving into the psychological and spiritual causes of their problems and seeking to repair the relational connections that have been damaged through sin.

Over the past several years, I've more intentionally investigated trauma and spiritual abuse. Regrettably, the series, written from the mid-1980s through the early 2000s, isn't as attuned to trauma and spiritual abuse as I would like. That's not to say there's no awareness at all, but there are indeed issues.

I want to acknowledge some of these problems before proceeding. Most of the books revolve around the sexual sin of the clergy. I believe that sexual sin, as depicted in the series, should be disqualifying, not just temporarily (as the books suggest), but permanently due to the harm it causes and the power abuses involved. The books, even as they frequently complain about excessive Freudian pop psychology, actually contain quite a bit of it. Thirdly, most of the books have one of three different spiritual directors who possess what is termed in the book as "psychic gifts." These psychic gifts function almost like magic and can be a distraction from how spiritual direction operates in the real world outside of the books. I think Howatch is attempting to take charismatic and mystical gifts seriously. But while it adds interest to the books, and I appreciate the mystical aspects, the near-magic, which is usually presented as a power of the Holy Spirit, is distinct from the role of traditional spiritual direction.

Howatch employs unreliable narrators to tell the story from their perspectives throughout the series, often with numerous flashbacks to provide context. This makes sense both from a literary and spiritual standpoint because people always have limited perspectives on what's happening within others. Additionally, many people have a degree of self-delusion about their own lives. This is especially true for those on the verge of a breakdown, as they try to hold their lives together.

Despite some frustrations, there are many positive aspects to the series. The series takes generational sin seriously, whether it's the ways in which we, as children, rebel against our parents but end up falling into different types of sin as a reaction, or the ways in which children (both knowingly and unknowingly) replicate the sin of their parents. It also emphasizes the benefits of breaking generational patterns for children. The series also promotes a holistic approach to healing while demonstrating how slowly that healing may occur.

The series forms an arc with overlapping characters. Charles Ashworth is the main character in the first book. Then, his spiritual director (Jon Darrow) becomes the main character in the second book. The third book is about an Archdeacon (Neville Aysgarth) who works in the diocese and was introduced in the second book. The following three books work backward. The fourth book is told from the perspective of a young woman but mainly focuses on the lack of healing in Aysgarth's life. And then the fifth book is about Jon Darrow's son Nicholas (again, a psychic) before returning to Charles Ashworth at the end of his career in the final book. An offshoot trilogy about Nicholas' work in London in the 1980s as a spiritual director is separate from the main series.

Another strength of the series is that it accurately depicts that God can use broken people. People in the series regularly offer good advice to others that they themselves don't follow. The series also showcases a diversity of theology, a fundamental characteristic of the Church of England as a denomination. Each facet of the denomination is presented as beneficial, although I think the modernist liberal is given the least grace. Finally, the series arc that revisits each character helps prevent the reader from idealizing short-term healing and instead focuses on the longer-term spiritual formation throughout the characters' lives.

I'll revisit this later with subsequent books in the series, but I wish the spiritual and personal consequences resulting from sin were more prominent, even though they're not completely absent. This is historical fiction, and there is an actual gap between some of the conventions and attitudes around theology and social mores from today. The series' progression over time highlights these changes, but it can still be challenging to understand decisions that were appropriate for different eras in light of the reader's current era.

I'll grapple with the ideas of the series without revealing too much of the storyline as I continue to write about future books. As I publish this post, I'm in the fifth book of the series. I keep postponing my writing because I want to give credit to Howatch, who addresses some of my earlier objections in later books, but I also know that not everyone will read nearly 3000 pages and make it through the entire series.

Short Review: This is a second reading and review of Glittering Images. I first read it about 2 years ago, and it provided me with a new understanding of what it means to live a Christian life. Since then, I've found a spiritual director and have been meeting with him for approximately 18 months, and my theology has also shifted a bit to become more sacramental (and Anglican). The book itself can be a bit melodramatic at times, and there may be a bit too much going on. The first half is about an Anglican priest and professor (Charles Ashworth) who is sent to covertly investigate a bishop. But Ashworth has his own issues, and in the midst of his investigation, he falls for a woman who works for the bishop and then experiences a full spiritual breakdown. The second half of the book is about Ashworth's recovery under the guidance of Jon Darrow, a spiritual director. The spiritual direction is highly fictionalized and not exactly like actual spiritual direction, but it did give me a glimpse of what spiritual direction could be.

I had actually requested some referrals for counselors before reading this because I was in a stagnant place in life. But this book gave me a new concept of what I was seeking. It wasn't depression or a midlife crisis; rather, it was the need for an older Christian to formally come alongside me and assist me in focusing on my spiritual life. I have a review next week of Eugene Peterson's Practice Resurrection, which I re-read along with Glittering Images to provide some non-fiction context. Both books focus on the Christian life as a work in progress, and I've found that aspect to be important.

My first blog review of Glittering Images http://bookwi.se/glittering-images/

My second reading review of Glittering Images http://bookwi.se/glittering-images-2/

After two long months, I have finally managed to finish this book. I must admit that it didn't quite meet my expectations. It was relatively easy to read, but the story seemed to unfold a little too effortlessly. The characters made multiple references to Freud, which led me to believe that Ms Howatch might have taken a basic psychology course and then transformed one or two classic case studies into fictional characters. The scenes felt a bit too contrived - I want to say scripted, but since this is a novel, I suppose it is by nature scripted.

Moreover, the entire book, or at least 99% of it, consists of dialogue. It is a series of overly dramatic scenes where people act out their emotions and then analyze everything later. There wasn't enough inner thought for my liking. I couldn't help but think that this book relied heavily on the absurdity of its characters. If just one of them had stepped back and said, "Wait, this is ridiculous," then everyone would have realized how stupid they were all behaving, and the book would have fallen apart. Which, I guess, is exactly what happened, although it took 450 pages and a whole lot of words to convey the message of "this is ridiculous."

Here, I can't avoid my cynical nature. I also objected to the fact that everyone turned out to be noble and good by the end of the book. No one had bad motives; they were all just victims of their pasts (that Freudian childhood thing) and circumstances. All it took was a wise monk to untangle the mess, and voila - beautiful souls were set free. Hmmmm.

I vividly remember reading 'Glittering Images' upon its initial publication and thoroughly enjoying it. This led me to decide to re-read the entire Starbridge series, of which this is the first book.

Charles Ashworth is dispatched by the Archbishop of Canterbury to, in essence, spy on Alex Jardine, the Bishop of Starbridge. Jardine is the Archbishop's vocal adversary regarding a proposed Bill that is making its way through Parliament and later becomes the Matrimonial Causes Act, broadening the grounds for divorce.

The Archbishop is apprehensive that Jardine's unconventional household might furnish the素材 for a future scandal that could taint the Church's reputation. Charles undertakes this commission with a degree of reluctance, yet with an eye on enhancing his standing with the Archbishop.

The few days spent with the Jardines and Mrs Jardine's companion, Miss Lyle Christie, serve as the catalyst that causes Charles' mental and spiritual equilibrium to shatter. He must confront his own inner demons before he can hope to attain any semblance of happiness.

This is a potent novel about the manner in which we all, to a certain extent, dwell behind the glittering images that we construct to conceal our own inadequacies, even from ourselves. I believe I gleaned more from this novel upon the second reading - partly due to the fact that I am older and possess more life experience. It is a novel that compels you to question your own life, how you interact with others, and how you perceive yourself.

The book描绘s an intriguing picture of the happenings in the upper echelons of the Church of England in 1937, just a couple of years prior to the outbreak of World War II. I found it an extremely worthwhile read and I am eagerly anticipating reading the second installment in the series.

While in many respects, Glittering Images encompasses elements that I typically cherish in a novel. It has a vivid sense of setting, in-depth psychological character studies, an exploration of interior life, and a touch of spirituality. However, I simply couldn't compel myself to invest in the sexual neuroses of middle-aged, middle-class English people over the course of 400+ pages. (I did manage to finish the entire book, but my enjoyment waned significantly as soon as Ashworth returned to Starbridge.)

One character, disappointingly, received far less exploration compared to the others who were subjected to lengthy examinations: Carrie Jardine. This omission seemed rather sexist, considering the character was underdeveloped from the outset. The so-called "spiritual direction" sessions, despite the director's criticism of psychological counseling for not delving into the spiritual core of patients' issues, resembled psychoanalysis sessions more than true spiritual direction. Where was the presence of prayer? The tranquility? The examination of inner movements? It was all about analyzing childhood and similar aspects. I simply didn't find it faithful to the actual experience of spiritual direction, and the influence of pop-Freud was palpable.

I would be quite intrigued to read more by Howatch, as I appreciate her writing style and know I can expect interesting and memorable characters from her. However, this book was like a record playing a pleasant song that just kept going without anyone removing the needle. She overemphasized the "glittering images" metaphor to an excessive degree, much like your neighbors' roofers working loudly at 8 AM on a Saturday morning. I did like the representation of Ignatian spirituality, but it was too little, too late. Howatch writes family sagas (after reading Glittering Images, I understand why), and I have a fondness for those. Nevertheless, I am reluctant to continue this series. For all my love of church-related novels, I will surely scream if I have to endure more of a 1970s writer's speculations about the sexual hangups of late Victorians during the interwar period.

Five stars simply aren't sufficient to convey the depth of my affection for this remarkable series.

This is the very first book, and it serves as a captivating introduction to a world filled with richly developed characters.

As the story progresses through the subsequent five books, the characters undergo significant growth and evolution, making each installment even more engaging than the last.

The author's ability to bring these characters to life and create a seamless narrative is truly remarkable.

Readers will find themselves completely immersed in this world, eagerly turning the pages to discover what lies ahead for their favorite characters.

Whether you're a fan of fantasy, adventure, or character-driven stories, this series is sure to satisfy.

So, sit back, relax, and prepare to embark on an unforgettable journey through the pages of this amazing series. Enjoy!

The first installment of the Church of England series was truly life changing for me.

It commences in SH's former Gothic style, which immediately grabs the reader's attention. However, as the series progresses, her style undergoes a significant evolution, transforming into a heart-stopping, page-turning psycho-spiritual thriller.

The Wonder Worker series, a spin-off of this one, takes the excitement to an even higher level. It is filled with intense and thrilling moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Nevertheless, it's important to note that this series is not for the faint of heart or those who are easily squeamish. It delves into deep and often disturbing themes, exploring the darker side of human nature and the spiritual realm.

Overall, both the Church of England series and its spin-off, the Wonder Worker series, offer a unique and captivating reading experience for those who enjoy psychological thrillers with a spiritual twist.

I had a strong desire after reading Howatch’s The Wonder Worker to return and explore the Starbridge series once again, commencing with this initial installment. And it still holds up remarkably well.

In the mid-1930s in England, Rev. Dr. Charles Ashworth is assigned by his mentor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to look into the household of the Bishop of Starbridge. The Archbishop is concerned that there might be an irregularity that could potentially reach the press and damage the Church. Additionally, his Grace and the bishop have recently engaged in a public dispute, so there is also a possible political incentive for sending Dr. Ashworth. That forms the backdrop. However, the story is truly about the psychological and spiritual odyssey that this task initiates in Charles Ashworth, which is utterly captivating.

Howatch’s novels draw me in because they are, in a genuine sense, mysteries. But the mystery being probed is the psyche of the main character, dissecting their motives and idiosyncrasies, uncovering the clues that explain what makes them function and why. And the resolution of a healed personality is just as gratifying as any murder mystery.