A progress to priesthood

Press, 21 November 1987, Page 25

A progress to priesthood

In the Palm House. By Tony Sullivan Andre Deutsch, 1987. 238 pp. $44.95 The adolescent Catholic boy’s struggle to decide on his commitment to future priesthood has frequently been dealt with in- novel form. The author apparently went through the same emotional turmoil and manages to convey, without excessive flourishes or fanfares, what may well be a typical progression. Rodney, who decides in the seminary that he wants to be known as Luke, feels the confused yearning of his flesh without being sure of its goal. However, his seduction by a much older female pilgrim at Lourdes gives him a taste of sexual pleasure, accompanied by extreme guilt, which

is very competently and quietly handled by a spiritual advisor, but he misses his personal dialogues with Christ which characterised his previous maturing. With a Down’s Syndrome older brother, whose death leaves him again with guilt at being ashamed of him during his life, a failure of a father, and a promiscuous embarrassing mother all furnish the confluence of streams pushing him towards the priesthood, and communion with those who similarly have overcome wordly turmoils. The Palm House, which is the refuge for Luke’s father, becomes the symbol of a hothouse, forcing lifegrowth that eventually becomes too threatening to cope with. A recommended, unpretentious, sincere novel. — Ralf Unger.