Here are five reasons for including or adopting my novel in your Creative Writing or Literature class – especially if you are teaching or introducing Catholic Literature/ The Catholic Literary Imagination
Sketches from a Sunlit Heaven by Sarah Law, Wipf and Stock, 2022
Subject Matter. This novel is about the life and legacy of a much-loved saint, Therese of Lisieux, who lived from 1873 to 1897 in Normandy, France, and, for the last nine years of her life was a Carmelite nun in a monastery of Lisieux. Therese is a saint whose brief life and ostensibly simple teaching has wide and enduring appeal. She catches at the hearts of so many different people, including French chanteuse Edith Piaf. She was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1997 and her teachings are present in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Her spiritual insights point to a loving and merciful god in whom we may have confidence, and for whom the smallest deed can be an offering of love. Pope Pius X described her as ‘the greatest saint of modern times.’ Significantly, the centenary of her canonisation falls in 2025. My novel, for which I undertook years of immersive research, can help set the scene for new students to meet this wonderfully approachable saint.
Historical context and span. My novel spans a wide stretch of history, from 1870 to 1958. Cultural and political shifts and international conflicts during this period were immense, including two World Wars, the first of which saw huge numbers of the faithful turn to Therese in prayer, and the second of which saw the bombing of Lisieux and the dramatic temporary exodus of the Carmelite monastery which was still home to two of Therese’s blood sisters. Cultural shifts included the rise of photography and new depictions of the sacred in art and literature. My novel is aware of these issues and many others, while remaining faithful to the world of enclosed religious communities.
Literary elements. I am an academic, editor, and published essayist and poet as well as the author of Sketches. I made conscious and informed choices about the structure, voices and style of my novel, about which I speak in my novel’s introduction and a number of published reviews and essays. For example, my choice of a polyphonic narration, inspired by Woof’s The Waves and a range of other works, is a central structural device. My use of sustained image complexes and of character flaws and stories were carefully worked through ad equally conscious choices. My novel’s introduction refers to other fictional depictions of Therese (including those by Ron Hansen and Michelle Roberts) which provide contemporary context. In addition, I have published two poetry collections exploring Therese’s life and legacy. I believe that she can be a touchstone for student readers and student writers.
Academic experience. I have over twenty years of experience teaching both creative writing and English literature in Higher Education and to open access groups, and would be delighted to give talks, tutorials, readings and workshops online or in person from the angle of literary study or creative practice. I’d also be happy to provide provisional teaching plans and prompts – with suggested extracts and recommended further reading – for reading and writing about Sketches. For example: using historical resources and artistic license; dramatizing scenes and creating voice; writing the world of enclosed religious communities (linking with other texts); European Catholicism as it enters the twentieth century; choosing fictional approaches (such as point of view, tense, motifs and themes) and reviewing the writing process from first drafts to final revisions.
Endorsements and Resources: Sketches from a Sunlit Heaven was awarded the silver medal (Catholic) in the 2023 Illumination Book Awards, and was shortlisted for the 2024 Hawthorne Prize (an elite prize for fiction). It has been generously received by real-life Carmelite communities and was a ‘Terrific Book Tuesday’ choice for Carmelite Spirit in 2023. An article on my creative and literary choices is available at the Open University, and a more extensive interview on Word on Fire’s Evangelisation and Culture blog (with Thomas Salerno).
‘Sketches From a Sunlit Heaven by Sarah Law introduced me to a story I knew absolutely nothing about, and the path to sainthood, which is completely foreign to me. It’s not that I was averse to learning about it; it’s just that a book has never come along that was intriguing enough for me to pick up. That has changed, and Law does a spectacular job of breathing life into a largely overlooked realm. The writing is beautiful with prose that often sings, and subtle use of symbolism. The standout to me is seeing what living the cloistered life of a nun is like. Overall, this is a uniquely composed, compassionately portrayed, and elegantly written account of la petite Thérèse, Saint of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.’
- From Jamie Michele’s review of Sketches (Reader’s Favourite).
Sarah Law 