The Sword and the Miracle by Melvyn Bragg is an acclaimed epic novel set during the beginning of Christianity in Ireland and England. The narrative is driven through two primary plots: romantic entanglement of Princess Bega and Prince Padric and political forces driving the divisions of Roman Catholicism and the subsequent rise of Anglo-Catholic tradition in Ireland and England.

Reviewed by Kimberly, a Protestant and hopeless romantic, she isn’t entirely sure how she feels about this book. She likes it for aesthetic reasons, but is unsure of the ending. Was it meant to end the way it did? If so, what was the point? Is suffering fruitless? Is the cure for a mental breakdown to swallow a piece of the “True Cross” our Lord and Savior died upon? Why is Catholicism represented so weakly? And is the scene in the beginning okay for Christians to read?

Discover all this and more in the first episode of the series “Novel Finds” where Kimberly reads a book found at the thrift store of the course of a week and reviews it.

Available everywhere you get your podcasts.

Follow @softly.shespeaks on TikTok and Instagram and consider a free subscription to her personal writing on Substack for more exposure to classical, Western ideals.

*Novel first published in 1996

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kimberlyacharest.substack.com