Loss and Gain

Loss and Gain: The Story of a Convert by Bl John Henry Newman, 432 pages

One of Newman's two novels (the other is Callista), Loss and Gain is the story of Charles Reding, the only son of an Anglican country vicar, and the personal, philosophical, and religious dilemmas he faces during his studies at Oxford.  Ultimately these struggles cost him university honors, a comfortable career, and the good opinion of his professors, friends, and family, as they lead him into the Catholic Church.

Obviously, there is a connection between the novel and Newman's own experience, although he was some twenty years older at the time of his conversion than his fictional creation.  The novel benefits greatly from this - it is not a tale of road to Damascus experiences, of which Newman was suspicious, but rather a slow, gradual, but ultimately irresistible attraction.  Newman occasionally interrupts the narrative to speak directly to the reader, a device which admirably covers some of his deficiencies as a storyteller and keeps the plot moving despite the lack of action.  Adding to the novel's charm is the author's satirical take on the varieties of Victorian religion.  The result is a quiet, convincing, beautiful portrayal of one young man's devotion to truth and corresponding willingness to lose his life in order to find it.