Happy feast of St. Camillus de Lellis! In honor of today’s feast, author Susan Peek has generously offered to send one of my visitors here at Shower of Roses a copy of the second volume in her series
God’s Forgotten Friends: Lives of Little-known Saints: A Soldier Surrenders: The Conversion of Saint Camillus de Lellis.
Yesterday afternoon I pulled my son’s copy of A Soldier Surrenders (we actually own the out of print 2007 edition published by Ignatius Press) off his bookshelf to skim through before posting the giveaway. Here is an excerpt from the introduction written by the author’s husband Jeff Peek which caught my eye:
“If you, while skimming these words, are casually standing in your local bookstore browsing for a good book to read, but you feel you are already well advanced on the road to sanctity, this book is probably not for you. No, this book is a story for the rest of us, the common herd – we folk who, when entering the confessional, still find we have some actual sins to confess. Saint Camillus is for us. He is our champion. He could be aptly described as the unofficial patron of strugglers.”
Well, that would be me. I read through the rest of the introduction, then the first chapter, and then wasn’t able to put the book down. I’m looking forward to finishing it this week today. It is excellent! I have always loved reading historical novels about the saints. The books by author Louis de Wohl were some of my favorites as a young adult and Susan’s books are just as intriguing and inspiring!
At last . . . a saint for strugglers! Soldiering, gambling, brawling, drinking. As a young man, Saint Camillus excelled at them all. Add to that his fiery temper and innate knack for getting in trouble, and Camillus de Lellis seems the last person who could ever achieve holiness! But God had plans for the stubborn young soldier, whether Camillus liked it or not . . .
“This novel for adult and young adult readers will introduce them to a great saint – a physical giant who had to contend with many personal struggles, much weakness, and repeated failures before he could become a moral giant. The story of Camillus de Lellis’ conversion will leave no reader unmoved, and those that feel hopeless about themselves will find new hope, a hero, and a friend in Christ.”
Back in print by popular demand, this fast-paced and inspiring story of the wayward soldier-of-fortune who became an intrepid Soldier of Christ will appeal even to those who don’t normally like to read!
In addition to A Soldier Surrenders: The Conversion of Saint Camillus de Lellis, recommend for ages 15 and up, Susan Peek has also written Saint Magnus,The Last Viking, the first volume in her series God’s Forgotten Friends: Lives of Little-known Saints, which was awarded the Catholic Writers’ Guild Seal of Approval in June 2015, and Crusader King: A Novel of Baldwin IV and the Crusades, which made it onto the list of the Top 50 Most Popular Homeschooling Books in 2013.
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