Even if you're not religious, this story is sure to
evoke a smorgasbord of emotions. The accounts of poverty and politics
during this period (circa 1850) are rich in detail and absorbing. The cast of
characters are touching and real. This is more than a good yarn. This is beyond subtle commentary on
faith and doubt and human nature. The telling is packed with great,
sometimes heart-wrenching, scenes. Understandably, this classic
maintained the New York Times Best Seller list for 13 weeks.
As
a nod to the Catholic Rosary, the novel is comprised of five parts,
each part containing ten chapters. To my surprise, part one takes on
present tense. I'm not sure whether this qualifies as
unique for novels written seventy-five years ago, but it might.
What intrigued me most was Bernadette's simplicity. Since fiction writers are forever instructed to make their protagonists
interesting, whether by introducing a glaring flaw or a striking
quirk (such as my youngest sister shaking a branch of sage around the
house to ward off evil; I love her dearly for it), the protagonist
must stand out, be memorable. Ironically, Bernadette is a rather
plain and plain spoken twelve year old. She suffers asthma and
receives her share of bullying. Beyond that, she isn't particularly
remarkable. However, throughout the course of the story, you find
yourself caring deeply for this poor and poorly maligned girl. In the
process, it's her simplicity and ignorance that becomes her charm.
The
story behind this novel is likewise engaging. While Franz Werfel and
his wife fled from the Nazis through France in 1940, the author
learned about Bernadette, the preteen on which the novel is based,
who purported to have experienced a total of eighteen visions of the
Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1858. She was eventually canonized in 1933. Moved by the accounts and
interviews he subsequently conducted, the writer vowed to write the
protagonist's story once he reached the United States. I'm glad he
did.
