Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings

I was a teenager when I first read Caryll Houselander; and rereading her as an adult, I believe her writings are very pertinent to today's Catholics. She was an artist as well as a writer whose books, while not lengthy, are full of beautiful and poetic insights into the life of the Church and of its members. She speaks of the "Christing" of the world and how the small, mundane acts of life are so valuable when done by Christ living in us. "The Reed of God" (on the Blessed Mother), "The Passion of the Infant Christ," "The Risen Christ," "The Comforting of Christ" (a revision and expansion of her first book, written during World War II, "This War is the Passion"), and "A Rocking Horse Catholic," her memoir of childhood and youth--all are treasures and "gems" to me. Dr. Wright, in addition to well chosen excerpts from Houselander's books and letters, includes letters and comments from friends that convey her "zany," fun-loving, eccentric, artistic character. This biographical material is hard to come by, as "A Rocking Horse Catholic," Maisie Ward's biography, "Caryll Houselander: That Divine Eccentric"; and Ward's "Letters of Caryll Houselander" are all out of print. Dr. Wright cites interesting recent criticism and examinations of Houselander's thought. I have one disagreement with Dr. Wright and one correction. First is her questioning if the "truth" about Houselander's affair with Sidney Reilly will ever be known in view of a letter by Houselander's sister saying that Caryll was a person who sometimes confused her own impressions with reality. (Dr. Marie Anne Mayeski, editor of "A Rocking Horse Catholic: A Caryll Houselander Reader," gives Ward as the source for the information on this affair.) Andrew Cook, in his 2004, 2nd edition, of "Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly" states that Houselander had a 2-year affair with Reilly, who provided her with a financial allowance; Cook's source is a letter written by Houselander's brother-in-law, now in the Notre Dame archives which Dr. Wright also utilized. Second, the correction: Cook cites Houselander's birth certificate in his notes, and the date is September 29, 1901. Houselander writes in her memoir that she was born on St. Michael the Archangel's Day, which is September 29. Maisie Ward and Drs. Wright and Mayeski all give the erroneous date of October 29, 1901! Cook concludes his excellent book with the previously unknown details of Reilly's death and ends with the poem Houselander wrote in Reilly's memory. Cook's book also has a lovely photo of Houselander as a young woman.