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In This Vale of Tears
Gerard Charles Wilson
Revised October 2009
ISBN 978 1 87626 09 9, 499
pages
First edition released 2006
In chapter four of
The Castle of Heavenly Bliss, Aine O’Riordan arrives in Binawarra,
her spirits shattered, the causes of which are only darkly hinted at.
In this Vale of Tears begins with the dark mysterious
events that led to her shattered spirits as a postulant in the order of
the Sisters of the Suffering Saviour, events which force her to give up
her desire to join the religious life. With great sorrow she leaves
behind friend and fellow postulant Virginia Pearson to deal with the
unexplained happenings and an atmosphere that seem to be infecting the
life of the convent.
Virginia Pearson (later Sister Agnes), suspicious of Margaret McGuigan’s (later Sister Catherine) role in all this, enters into a barely suppressed conflict with her through their religious training to their university course in 1962. The intrusion of Virginia Pearson’s former fiancé – and senior university lecturer – into her life as Sister Agnes adds a further unexpected problem. During this time Aine, who has maintained contact with Sister Agnes and been drawn into the world of fashion modelling, unwittingly plays a connecting role in the deepening conflict and the continuing mysteries that see Agnes and Aine each rushing towards a crisis.
The themes of the 'Goddess' and Gnosticism introduced in The Castle of Heavenly Bliss are further developed in In This Vale of Tears. The second book in the Winterbine trilogy.
The book is now available in a handy A4 e-book format, $7.95 for download and $9.95 for CD incl. postage Australia. A new updated paperback edition will be available when the third book in the Winterbine trilogy is released 2011.
Payment can be made by credit card via Pay Pal
REVIEWS
Michael Gilchrist,
AD2000
John Young, Caroline
Chisholm Library
Reader comments
'...a
gripping follow-up
to
The Castle of Heavenly
Bliss,
with engaging characters and a masterful treatment of the ideological
issues...
Dr Paul McKenna South Caulfield VIC
'I enjoyed In This Vale of Tears...the
feminists were well done...know your enemy...this is a gutsy book'
Margaret Condon, Castle Hill NSW
...an accurate account of happenings
within some religious orders...an uncanny representation of the
experiences of religious...as gripping and targeted as The Castle of
Heavenly Bliss
Fr Terence Naughtin, Franciscan Friars,
Kellyville NSW