Treason: A Catholic Novel of Elizabethan England

Treason: A Catholic Novel of Elizabethan England

As Stephen Long steps ashore in England one gray dawn in May 1581, he wonders how many more Catholics will have to die to make Queen Elizabeth feel secure. Involuntarily, he trembles at the thought that soon he may be numbered among them.
For in the days ahead, each time Stephen hears confession or celebrates Mass, he commits yet another act of high treason against the British Crown, for which Queen Elizabethâ€™s swift penalty is gruesome torture and painful death. As Stephen hastens to find shelter away from that open beach, he struggles not only with fear but with doubt, as well: â€œIs my mission foolish? Am I nothing more than fresh meat for the queenâ€™s butchers?â€
In the light of that same gray dawn, just a few miles north, a heartbroken Caroline Wingate lies awake in her unhappy marriage bed, wrestling with thoughts of a differentâ€”perhaps cruelerâ€”martyrdom.
Although from her earliest years Caroline has known herself to be called to cloistered contemplative life as a nun, some years ago she was forced by her father into a politically â€œsafeâ€ marriage with an upright Protestant, from whom she must hide her Catholicismâ€”and her true vocationâ€”lest she, too, be executed for her faith.
Hanging by the neck is swift martyrdom, but Carolineâ€™s doubts and guilt have pained her daily for years now. An exile in her own soul, in her lonely desolation she confesses, â€œI donâ€™t love my husband as I should. For safetyâ€™s sake, I cannot give myself wholly to him and must deceive him daily. Nor can I give myself to the One I truly love.â€
In a few days, circumstances will force Caroline and the young priest together. With death hastening toward both of them, the beautiful fates of these two faithful Catholics confirm what we today too often forget: our faith is the most powerful force in the worldâ€”more powerful than politics, wars, or empires. More powerful even than the hard, cold will of Queen Elizabeth.
In this gripping, heartrending tale, Caroline and Stephen show us that itâ€™s not power that writes the true history of the world; itâ€™s faith: faith and the love that faith alone can awaken and sustain.
â€œTreason is one of the most powerful historical novels Iâ€™ve ever read. It brings to vivid and shocking life the age in which Shakespeare lived and in which the English martyrs died.â€
Joseph Pearce
Writer-in-Residence, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
Country USA
Manufacturer Sophia Institute Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2013-03-16
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Sophia Institute Press
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2013-03-16
Format	Kindle eBook

Treason: A Catholic Novel of Elizabethan England

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