The paintings of Saints Peter and Paul, on view at the Vatican MuseumsJanet Miriam Holland, known as Taylor Caldwell, was born in 1900 in Manchester. At the age of seven she moved with her family to New York, where she grew up and began to write. She is one of the most prolific authors of the twentieth century, although her work is not as well known as it should be. We know about forty of her works, but she wrote many more, not counting the 140 that her husband decided to burn one day.
His books are not always easy to find. The most outstanding titles can be found in some online stores, maybe even in a bookstore. But you often have to scour the web before you can get your hands on a copy. Caldwell's works are like little jewels that, in order to obtain, require the earth to be disturbed.
A biography of St. Paul
Among his writings is a novelized biography of St. Paul. The great lion of God is one of those works that delves into a character in such a way that, when the reader closes the book, he or she has the impression of having met the apostle to the Gentiles.
Throughout a few paragraphs full of color, references to God and imagination, Caldwell gradually builds the world of Paul of Tarsus. The figure of this saint is made human, without ever losing sight of the greatness of the character.
Paul is a flawed man with a strong temperament and extraordinary intelligence. His zeal for God is contagious and, as the reader soon realizes, dangerous.
Caldwell succeeds in drawing a portrait of St. Paul that becomes incredibly close. His world, his person, his thoughts, cease to be something distant and become the reality of a fellow traveler.
Of course, we cannot forget that the book is a novel and therefore, although it is historically accurate, it also contains additions from the author's mind, who takes advantage of what the New Testament tells us to imagine the context of the apostle. We do not know many things about St. Paul and, precisely because we do not know them, we can neither affirm nor deny that this is how the Englishwoman tells us.
Even those who don't believe the Bible can enjoy Taylor Caldwell's magnificent display of his writing talent, which reveals an artistic and profound knowledge of God.
