Peregrina: Caryll Houselander

Peregrina: Caryll Houselander
Excerpt:
In the 1940s and 50s Caryll Houselander enjoyed enormous success in the English-speaking world. Her books of that period include The Reed of God, The Flowering Tree, The Passion of the Infant Christ, A Rocking Horse Catholic, The Risen Christ, and many others, all published by Sheed and Ward. Frank Sheed had discovered her in the early 1940s on one of his numerous trips to England and the publication in 1941 of This War is the Passion established her reputation as a Christian writer of great profundity and sensitivity.
On the face of it, Caryll Houselander would seem an unlikely candidate for worldly success. She was neither a scholar nor even particularly well-educated. Her chosen profession was that of an artist and she thought of herself, above all, as a wood-carver. Had it not been for the mysterious workings of providence in her early childhood, she would probably have blended imperceptibly with those who inhabit the fringes of the artistic world. She was certainly talented and loved the artist’s craft, but it was Yvonne Bosch van Drakestein, the Dutch founder of the Grail Society in England, who first recognized her unique gifts and who encouraged her to pursue her vocation in the field of writing after Caryll had appeared at her door and offered to help in any way she could to further their apostolate...