Many-Colored Fleece: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Catholic Fiction

“Either fiction will bring God in, or perish in stagnation.” The twenty-four stories collected in Many-Colored Fleece more than meet the challenge of this ultimatum from Mariella Gable, O.S.B. Not only do they bring in God, they meet him directly: undergoing his chastisement, adoring his goodness, despairing of his mercy, assenting to his justice, accepting his love. Running the full gamut of human interest, these are stories of temptation and sin; of violence and prejudice; of suffering and death—but also of prayer and endurance; of kindness and humility; of faith, hope, and love.

Catholic fiction is unlimited; it embraces all reality. (Mariella Gable, O.S.B.)

Anchored by the belief that “Catholic fiction is three-dimensional,” Many-Colored Fleece presents “the complexity of three-dimensional fiction”: “Fleece, for we are all God’s sheep, in reality either black sheep or white sheep, no matter what brilliant hues of red, or blue, or gold we exhibit to the world.” Including stories by Graham Greene and Paul Horgan, John Steinbeck and Katherine Anne Porter, and Sean O’Faolain and Frank O’Connor, Many-Colored Fleece is an excellent introduction to twentieth-century Catholic fiction in all its freshness and power.

Paperback, 344 pages.