The Hawk and the Dove

The Hawk and the Dove, Penelope Wilcock  

This delightful fiction series of 9 books is set in 14th Century Yorkshire and is about the monastery community of St Alcuins. The first book starts with the appointment of a new Abbot, Father Columba (which means dove). Acknowledging that their Abbot is hardly like a dove, this steely eyed, serious and devout though not compassionate man, continues to be known by the community by his baptismal name of Peregrine (the hawk):

“Of course, it’s one thing to love Jesus and quite another to follow him; and poverty, chastity and obedience sat about as comfortably on Peregrine as his hair shirt. Still, the brothers saw promise in him, and as much from stubbornness as anything else he grimly struggled through his novitiate year, finally making his vows and being professed as Brother Columba - a name which shows that either his abbot had a wry sense of humour or else that he had a greater faith than most men and no sense of humour at all.” (The Hawk and the Dove)

Each book explores a different aspect of the monastery or wider community. It is written in a lovely, winsome style, yet deals with some serious and sobering issues. The first book contains a shocking act of violence perpetrated on one man and how it changed him and his fellow brothers. Later books explore the realities of disability and the descent into needing loving palliative care, what true repentance and forgiveness can look like, and the impact of serious trauma and grief. I appreciated how the early books on monastery community life explored how the men learned (sometimes by trial and mistake) how to live graciously with one another with friendship and care. By removing romance from the early books, the focus was on other aspects of the Christian life. Later books did explore love and marriage outside the monastery, and these also showed a wisdom and depth of insight of the author. One quote was very amusing (although I note that this marriage improved with time and the gaining of wisdom):

“Married life... is like a precarious walk along the top of a hurdle never made to bear a man’s weight, while one person pelts you with cabbages and another intermittently takes you by surprise throwing a bucket of cold water in your face. Never dull.” (The Breath of Peace, p. 98).

The first two books are a collation of general stories, and Wilcock herself notes that she tried to make them similar to something like Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, which are from the same time. So, there are parallel stories, one in more modern times of Melissa with family life. Then the monastery stories are those her mother told her. From the third book onwards, Melissa’s mother no longer features as the narrator, it is just the chronological stories of the lives of the monks.

To call them charming makes them sounds light. They are not light - they contain significant emotion and experiences, expressions of God’s goodness and mercy, as well as despair at sin and failings. Yet they are also charming, written with skill, humour, and self-awareness. Highly recommended.