The Living Wood: A Novel about Saint Helena and the Emperor Constantine

by Louis de Wohl

Book Overview

The renowned novelist De Wohl, with his usual crisp language and descriptive narrative, as well as irony and humor, presents the colorful and tumultuous times of the early Christian era in this story of intrigue, romance and power politics revolving around Helena, the devoted and saintly mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor. This historical novel tells the story of the quest for the True Cross through fifty years of the most exciting...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586172271
• ISBN13: 9781586172275
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Ignatius Press
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Entertaining and Historically Accurate

Great way to learn about history as well as about The Church's saints. I also enjoyed De Wohl's City of God, The Spear and The Restless Flame. I can't wait to read his others. I would reccomend for homeschooling history, although there are a few scenes that I would not read to my children. They are not graphic but innappropriate for younger children. An overall exciting and historically accurate book.

I haven't read this in years, but I've read it a dozen times or so

I was probably about 8 when I first read this (I was reading adult books by this age), but I read it over and over again thru my 20s. I don't know how factual the background story was in this work of historical fiction, but the characters jumped out of the page at me and I seemed to get something new out of it every time I read it. The fictional part of the story was about a Roman soldier who was somehow involved in the crucifixion, and how it affected his life. Even though I've never been particulary religious, I found it a very moving tale. I lost it somewhere along the way, and from time to time I wish I could get a copy and see if it affects me as strongly as it did then.