Catherine Wheels

by Leif Peterson

Thomas's carefully built life has been shattered. Everywhere he turns, he finds tragedy. After being left at the altar, he retreats to a remote castle in the mountains of Northwest Montana to live... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578568943
• ISBN13: 9781578568949
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Waterbrook Press
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Beautiful Story

Peterson takes the big issues that we all grapple with; faith, love, hope, doubt, death, and weaves them into a beautiful tale. It's one of those treasured books that once picked up, I could not put it down. I can't wait for his next one.

Art, Faith, & Tragic Beauty

Imagine, hidden within the wall of an ancient convent, a prayer wheel once used to send prayers to the nuns to bring before God. It's the intriguing and fitting metaphor at the center of this story of hope in the midst of life's inescapable tragedies. Like the strands of an old rope, Thomas's life has unraveled. At every turn, he finds only more pain. When he receives news that his older brother, an Episcopal priest, has killed himself, it seems nothing will ever be right again. But from the moment a mysterious nine-year-old girl enters Thomas's life, her spiritual insight begins to work miracles. Readers, I must warn you: if you'll sit with Catherine awhile, she might challenge you to your very core. But if you've ever hurt for someone you cannot help, ever struggled with doubt in the face of God's seeming coldness, ever borrowed the grace of others in a time of deep loss, you may just find something life-changing in this story. Ultimately, this is a tale of the sometimes agonizingly slow process of redemption. Peterson offers no formula, no familiar landmarks for navigation. There is no clear answer to the great conflict waged at the center of life. Yet I defy the contemplative reader not to be compelled. The ever-present shadow of deep beauty makes this book irresistible: you want to savor it, to read it slowly and make it last. The force that keeps you turning the pages is not so much what's going to happen next, but what this now is going to feel like. The understated awakenings in Peterson's characters, and his incisive observations about their souls, are startling. While reading, I was Thomas passing through "an unnamable threshold-divided into before and after." Catherine Wheels gives the sense that no philosophy can answer our deepest questions better than a story. And I, for one, am richer for the reminder.

A great read with wonderfully engaging characters

If you've experienced pain and sorrow in your life then read this book. A poignant reminder of the process of grief and healing and the search for grace, sometimes found where we least expect it. A powerful cornerstone of a novel for Mr. Peterson. Looking forward to his next.

Wonderful Surprise

When I read something I really enjoy, I pace myself to prolong the pleasure. That¹s what I did with Catherine Wheels. It was engaging from the first page; I was immediately drawn into the story. Compelling and gripping are words that come to mind. I loved the God/grace theme and the Catherine connection to it. I loved the way that redemption plays out in the context of suffering. Is that where it always shows up? I liked being reminded that redemptive grace is present in the unlikely places in life, in my life and in the lives around me. Amazingly, it always seems to take me by surprise. That¹s what this book was, a surprise.

A strong and moving novel

Catherine Wheels is an engaging story of love and hope in the midst of sorrow. In this tale, as in real life, the youngest is the wisest and strongest, bringing hurting adults together through love, prayers, and compelling accounts of saints. One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is that the characters are real-to-life. Although the main character, Thomas, is wonderful, I think Ellen, his sister, is my favorite character because of her vulnerability. The honesty in these pages made reading a pleasure.