A Theology of Fiction, by Cassandra Nelson
What does literature—both classic and contemporary—have to do with God? A Theology of Fiction looks at our inheritance as “people of the book” to consider how stories found outside of Scripture can—often in oblique but potentially transformative ways—speak to us of the Word.
A Theology of Fiction traces the legacy of Sister Mariella Gable, O.S.B., the stubborn, sharp, influential critic, anthologist, and professor who helped usher in the mid-20th century triumph in American Catholic letters. Part literary history, part literary and theological criticism, it revives Sister Mariella’s clarion call for a vision of a metaphysical but deeply-sensed three-dimensional realism, one capable of shoring us up against the impoverishment of contemporary -isms and reductions.
Cassandra Nelson shares her own testimony as evidence of the reality of Providence, and of the moral and spiritual reorientation the reading life offers. Stories often reach us in kairos time: a book will arrive just when we need it, drawing us into another duration so that we can partake of reality’s deeper designs. She posits that in the masterful fiction of writers ranging from Shakespeare to Muriel Spark to David Foster Wallace readers can find proof of a God whose love comes to us, sometimes through knotted, supposedly “secular” plots and seemingly profane stories, to connect us with the source of holiness, the one who writes straight with crooked lines.
“A Theology of Fiction is a fascinating and subtle exploration of the intersection of fiction and faith. The book offers wonderfully nuanced readings, rich historical details on a wide range of writers, and finally delivers a sensitive evocation of what fiction, at its best, offers us as human beings.”
-Phil Klay, winner of the National Book Award
Publication Date: January 28, 2025
