The Hawk and the Dove Trilogy

If you are looking for Christian fiction this book will move you and inspire you as you walk through the challenges of leading a Christ centered life. I have loaned this book out and it always comes back with rave reviews.

Penelope Wilcock uses an old English monastery as the setting for her book, "The Hawk and the Dove". Within the monastery are unforgettable characters whom she paints with a loving and compassionate hand, showing both their sins and their unbelievable acts of love and sacrifice for God and their fellow man. The main character is Father Peregrine for whom the book is named. Throughout his life as a monk, he develops from the shallow son of an overprivileged upbringing to a man of tremendous faith and compassion, and finally to a shell of a man wracked with physical problems and the aftereffects of an undeserved beating. His interaction with his brothers gives us an example of Christlike love and behavior and likewise his sufferings show us the physical tortures which Jesus endured. This is a moving and inspiring book.

"The Hawk and the Dove" is one of the best inspirational books that I have ever read. Ms. Wilcock did an outstanding job of characterization. I was touched by the infirmities of the monks and the depth of emotion that each portrayed. Father Peregrine, as abbot of the monastery, exemplified the true meaning of humility, grace and love. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone seeking to understand the grace of God.

The Hawk and the Dove: a Trilogy, with its beginning setting in a monastery in 1303, is timeless in its portrayal of the many nuances of human nature. Abbot Father Peregrine, continually humbled by his embarrassing physical handicaps, daily seeks to be a partaker of the sufferings of the Christ to whom he is deeply devoted. While portraying the disciplines and austerity of the pre-Reformation monastery, this book is yet warm and beautiful, lighted with an unforgettable ambience. With all their faults and frailties, the love of these humble brothers for their Lord and for each other makes a haunting and long-to-be-remembered story.Penelope Wilcock seeks to highlight in this story the need to understand and embrace those who find themselves marginalized and relegated to loneliness in our church community -- a community that "organizes itself around meetings" -- the deaf, the mentally handicapped, and the incontinent, to name a few. I highly recommend this book to all who wish to be both entertained and challenged.

Refreshing because it takes a course that far too many Christian fiction writers never dare to take - Ms. Wilcock portrays a love story, but between God and man, between brothers through Christ rather than the usual man and woman love story...which helps a lonely person more than dreaming about being in love does. There is no let down because the love she speaks of in this book is there for ME. Deep and soul-searching because you end up feeling what the characters feel - fear, shame, emabarrasment, release, pure love, laughter, anger, etc. You end up seeing yourself mirrored in their struggles...her words give HOPE. In the love of Christ, which is not pretty and clean, but a filthy and bloodied man - Jesus - God the Son - who poured out his blood and gave up His spirit on the cross to God the Father because of His love for me.

Penelope Wilcock's The Hawk And The Dove is a trilogy of novels under one cover. Poignant, moving, rich with imagery and emotion, each of these engaging stories drawn from the brothers of St. Alcuin are presented as being told to a 15-year-old girl by her mother. Tom must decide between the beautiful girl he loves and the call of God upon his life. Francis finds that never again will he need to hide his personal paint beneath a jest. When James cannot escape the truth of who he is, he pours out his grief to God and rises a newborn child of grace. Although these stories are set in an earlier century, modern readers will easily identify with each charter in Wilcock's timeless human dramas of people learning to love and serve one another while growing in their understanding of a tender and compassionate God. Highly recommended reading.