| "It would be understandable if someone initially responded to this book by asking: 'A novel
about a hermit living on one of the islands of the Outer Hebrides is supposed to help me to learn
to pray better? Are you kidding?' On the contrary, we've never been more serious. David Torkington's
book, The Hermit, has the format and flow of a short novel but the impact of a work of deep
mysticism. The story itself is intriguing, and includes a genuine 'Blue-Print for Prayer' (and an
explanation of how best to use it) that is powerfully practical. This little book can revolutionize
the way you pray, for as the hermit says; 'You see, once you admit that prayer is merely the word
we use to describe the practical way we go about allowing God's love to enter into our lives and
change us, and through us others, you have to admit that prayer is the most important thing in our
lives.' To get better at doing 'the most important thing' in your life, we recommend you read this
book." --Larry Holley, O.S.B in Book Nook
from Dove Publications, Pecos, NM, Spring 2000
"One gains the immediate impression on taking up these books that they are not some glib response
to an editorial suggestion but rather something carefully meditated. Torkington writes about prayer
and one feels that he writes from experience, with the authority of one who has prayed. The hermit
in question is Peter Calvay, who lives off the island of Barra in the Hebrides. The narrator is in
pursuit of Peter and his knowledge of prayer. When the two meet, various conversations ensue and,
with Peter as our guide, we are taken on a tour from the depths of semi-Pelagianism to the heights
of mystical experience, encountering some serious spiritual theology on the way. Torkington has the
happy knack of marrying style and content. At no time do we think this is a prayer manual dressed up
as a novel, the novelistic trappings being the honey to snare the flies. Rather, we realize that
prayer isn't simply a matter of theory, but something to be lived -- and these books succeed in
presenting theology as lived experience. In an age such as ours where faith and life are so dangerously
divergent, this is a considerable achievement. Torkington's books may well end up on the shelf
marked "Popular Theology." This is a little unjust as these books are far from simplistic; indeed,
they are a welcome antidote to modern ignorance. But St. Francis de Sales wrote "popular" works too,
and if these books end up next to Introduction to the Devout Life, they will be in fitting
company." --David McLaurin, winner of the "Daily Express Book of the
Year Award" for his novel Bishop of San Fernando, in the Catholic
Herald, Sept. 6, 1998
"I would like to thank David McLaurin for his excellent review of David Torkington's Trilogy
on Prayer (Catholic Herald, 6 September). I am sure that there
will be many others who, like myself, will be grateful to him for drawing attention to what is
true gold, amidst so much spiritual dross published today. Would that I could send a copy to every
Catholic family for, though it contains so much profound spirituality, the author has the knack of
making it available to all. David McLaurin is right to put this Trilogy side by side with St. Francis
de Sales' popular masterpiece." --Sr. Margarita Schwind, O.P.,
Southampton
"Through conversations with a hermit on a remote Scottish isle, the author instructs the beginner
in the first stages of a prayer life." --Raven's Bread: Food for Those in
Solitude, August 1999
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