As it happens, a number of novels were available up to just a few years ago, but have since vanished from the face of the earth--or, at least, from the face of Books in Print. However, acquiring them should not be excessively difficult.
- James Anthony Froude, Nemesis of Faith (Harry Ransom HRC, 1991). The narrator slowly but surely loses his faith, with unfortunate results for all concerned. There's a brief biographical sketch of Froude available from the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
- John Henry Newman, Loss and Gain, ed. Alan G. Hill (Oxford, 1986). The nineteenth century's most famous conversion novel. The best online source of information about Newman is The Newman Reader, but see also the Victorian Web.
- Mrs. Humphry Ward, Robert Elsmere, ed. Rosemary Ashton (Oxford, 1987). One of the great bestsellers of the late Victorian period, despite being a lengthy thesis novel. Clergyman with the same problem as Froude's narrator, but he manages to develop his own philosophy out of it. On Mrs. Ward, see The Mary Ward (Mrs. Humphry Ward) Website.
- ---, Helbeck of Bannisdale, ed. Brian Worthington (Penguin, 1983). Young woman raised without faith falls in love with a devout Catholic. The outcome is not good. (This was actually turned into a radio drama in the 1980s.)
- Mrs. (Josephine) Wilfrid Ward, One Poor Scruple, ed. Bernard Bergonzi (Tabb House, 1985).The dangers of interfaith marriage (among other things) from a late-Victorian Catholic perspective; has some similarities to Helbeck of Bannisdale, although Josephine Ward's preface denies any connection.
- Charlotte Yonge, The Heir of Redclyffe, ed. Barbara Dennis (Oxford, 1997). High Church bestseller, featuring secret love, skepticism, illness, and death. See The Charlotte Mary Yonge Fellowship for more information about Yonge.
I can't believe they made Helbeck of Bannisdale into a radio drama. What a downer.
Posted by: Marya | March 31, 2010 at 06:18 PM