A unique novel fleshing out the life of the ancient legend of Julian the Hospitaller, set in the period of the Crusades. More violent than any other Wangerin book, but spiritually honest and hopeful. I couldn't help but think at times while reading this novel that on one level it was an autobiographical text. This is not to say that Walter Wangerin Jr. lived a life similar to Julian, but the recognition of our total dependance on God's grace, and how we can unintentionally hurt those around us, especially those who love us - this seemed to resonate as words from Wangerin's own life experience.
As I read this book I thought it similar to another novel about an ancient saint, the novel Godric by Frederick Buechner, also a recounting of the life of a flawed saint. Both books remind us how God can use we flawed, imperfect, and indeed sinful, humans to be God's hands and feet in this world. There is no life so lost that it cannot be redeemed by the God of severe mercy.
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