The Miracle

John L'Heureux has a disturbing and salient view of people and their inherent foilbles. His writing always entrances, this book no exception.

Having read and loved A Woman Run Mad, I couldn't wait to read another one of John L'Heureux's novels. The Miracle is the dark, thought-provoking tale of a charismatic, albeit somewhat arrogant priest and his trials and struggles as his chastity and faith take a turn toward disaster. Paul LeBlanc's life isn't the same after he is transferred from his South Boston parish to a small church in New Hampshire. When a teenage girl awakens after she had been pronounced dead from a drug overdose, Paul is convinced that the occurrence is a miracle. However, his life falls apart after he embarks on an affair with a woman and the teenage girl dies in an accident not long after the drug scare. There are some staggering, ironic twists throughout the novel. The Miracle has the sort of disarming and dark language that I loved in A Woman Run Mad. John L'Heureux is a great author. I love his ironic language and disturbing stories. I look forward to reading more of his books. In the meantime, I highly recommend this gem...

There is something about this book that kept me awake,made me a bit nervous and then made me want to lay down in a quiet meadow and read the whole thing again. Heureux's work reads like poetry. Its spare lyricism possesses surprises at every turn...sudden whimsy, sudden anger, sudden eroticism, sudden sin, and sudden wit, the kind that is rooted in bright hope. This book is more than a story although the elements of story are powerfully present. Something makes me think it might be life-changing. If there IS a God, that is.

Reminded me at times of John Irving's A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY and some of Gail Godwin's writing. I wish it was longer -- at just over 200 pages, it is a "fast read" and you'll probably miss the characters when it's over. (How cliche is that?!)

This is a beautiful book that deals remarkably intelligently with the ever-complicated problems of faith and love. While John L'Heureux has a wry sense of humor that is set off by his masterful style, he is still able to strike at the heart of difficult and very personal questions about human nature and the life well-lived. If you can appreciate the funny and yet brutal honesty of a writer like Chekhov, you will appreciate this work by John L'Heureux.