Absolute Truths

I listened to what I wanted from a work called "Absolute Truths"-I who am desperately conservative in Christianity and most things. After Charles Ashworth's triumph in "Glittering Images," and his overall positive portrayal in the books between that and this, I didn't want to find out that the truth I thought he had found, and that Howatch suggested he had found, was a lie, another of the tragic misconceptions that Howatch regularly and regretfully demolishes in her characters ("Anti-Sex Ashworth" toppled by doubt and lust stronger than his convictions-what a depressing concept). It wasn't. But in the interim between "Glittering Images" and "Absolute Truths," Ashworth's grip on the truth had shifted until he had become a false man holding a true thing, or, to put it another way, Ashworth had grown as much as he could during "Glittering Images," but he still had far to grow, and "Absolute Truths" pushed him farther.Thus Howatch, as in the rest of this Starbridge series, follows a plot sequence of strength debilitating into weakness, then supernaturally resolved into strength (or truth to lies to truth, or any number of other ways may describe this spiritual falling and rising pattern). We cannot however assume that the characters will live happily ever after, that their lives are "solved," or even that the weakness resolved in the novel will never return in later years. Howatch's cruces do not involve perfect or perfectible people, but perfect moments of grace that make the rest of lives better or in some way bearable. In a sort of backhanded optimism, Ashworth writes in the midst of his revelations, "Dimly I realised that this state of companionable hell could be classified as a form of survival." At the end of "Absolute Truths," Howatch permits Ashworth an idyllically happy old age and a platform for reminiscence, a sort of sop to him and to her for six dramatically painful novels in the series, but we must not forget that after "Glittering Images" Ashworth needed "Absolute Truths" to correct him further. After receiving revelation that revolutionised his life, he needed more revelation. As such, these novels are some of the most true-to-life of any fiction I've read portraying the Christian way of living. They give hope, not for all things to turn out alright, but for all things to "intermingle," as Ashworth insists, for good-and for there to be moments, rising above the doubt and pain, in which we may see God and absolute truths as clearly as our eyes can function. We may live a long time, decades, in the strength vouchsafed by these moments. Then we may need another, as Ashworth did.

Knowing that those likely to read this review may well already share my love for the series as a whole, I shall begin by saying that Susan's gift for characterisation, with a great honesty and much room for grace to do its work, is always superb, and here at a new peak. My general approach to her main figures in the series is to see Jonathan Darrow as someone I'd love to hear preach but might be nervous to meet (even if he tends to compress 40 years worth of direction into a week's retreat) - Neville Aysgarth as someone I'd like to shake by the shoulders - Nicholas Darrow as one I'd closet with a library of the first fifteen centuries of Christian thought before he'd be allowed out - and Charles Ashworth as the ultimate Christian intellectual with whom I'd love to share weekly four-hour lunches with the best claret on the table. In this volume, Charles is once again the key character, and the reader finds, as he himself gradually learns, that the old glittering image is still much alive and as troublesome as ever.Watching this character struggle with bereavement and grief of all varieties, and finally face the long-hidden "demons" which lurked in shadows to affect his relationship with his children and with his old nemesis Aysgarth, is incredibly moving and insightful. Dramatic though the plot becomes, it is a marvellous work wherein a seasoned bishop comes to new self-knowledge, humility, compassion ... and, while I'll not give the ending away, ultimately a specific setting of happiness which some readers will have thought he should have snatched 30 years before.

This and every one of Susan Howatch's novels are well worth the time put into them. They're literate, challenging and dare to explore questions of faith, love, family and loyalty. And while her "potboiler" novels are excellent, DON'T be put off by the 6-volume Church of England series. The characters are engaging and the questions and answers they discover during the traumatic events of their lives and the eventual renewal of their souls took me to philosophical places I'd never been before and forced me to often consider the same issues the characters themselves grappled with. That's what's wrong with people today - they're intellectually lazy and don't want to deal with issues of faith, belief, and the renewing powers of love. However, Ms. Howatch does so with a style and flair and gift with the written word that I can only sit back, read and envy and admire. More! More!

Everyone looking for depth, entertainment and a real spirituality boost should read this book. Everyone looking for an intellectual challenge should read this book. I just have to say it - everyone should read this book! Absolute Truths is actually the sixth book in a series, but like the other five stands fine on its own. It deals with the Church of England and in particular a few specific members of the church, in the 1960's. It deals with what is going on in society, what is going on with "regular" people and what is going on inside the Church of England and with its members. It focuses on one particular Bishop, Charles Ashworth, and shows him faults and all as a regular human being as he deals with the ups and downs in his personal, professional and spiritual life. There are terrific discussions of religious, spiritual, artistic and socio-economic ideals. This book will stretch your mind into thinking things you never thought would enter your grey matter. It's highly recommended by most of the people I know that have read it. And it's also recommended that you read the other books in this series. This book will change your life.

I simply cannot think of another author who so deftly weaves an entertaining plot line with a strong moral tone. The result is wondrous. This is a story of a man who must grapple with modern challenges to the faith he has upheld all his life. Written with grace and elegance, this novel accurately captures the essence of human nature. As heroes of fiction are perenially discovering, the world and its inhabitants cannot be neatly divided into catagories of black and white. And although this theme has been explored since the beginning of literature, no author in recent memory has been able to do so with such an able grasp of language, pathos, and humor. This book illuminates answers to the eternal questions of existence, God, and the capacity of the human heart.