Stories of the Saints: Bold and Inspiring Tales of Adventure, Grace, and Courage

In this entertaining collection of profiles of saints, novelist Wallace (The Blind Contessa’s New Machine) introduces Christian martyrs, each with a spiritual idiosyncrasy that earns its particular patronage. While the vignettes reveal the brutality Christians suffered for their faith, Wallace’s prose is evocative and reverent. She opens with 2nd-century CE Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, and weaves chronologically to end with Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa). Each biographical sketch begins with the date, location where the saint lived or is known, emblem, patronage, and feast day, culminating in legends about the saints amplified by Thornborrow’s luminous ink illustrations. Wallace neatly highlights moments when the spiritual heroes, often at odds with Roman authority, are put to the test: Lawrence (the patron saint of comedians, chefs, and firefighters) said, while being roasted on an iron grill over hot coals, “This side is roasted. Turn me over”; Mud made from Christopher’s blood following his beheading miraculously repaired the eye of the king who sentenced him to death; Catherine of Siena debated philosophers while Francis of Assisi healed animals of every kind. Wallace’s accounts of the lives of saints will appeal any Christian, particularly those who read graphic novels. [em](Mar.) [/em]