Song of Bernadette

The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel, translated by Ludwig Lewisohn, 575 pages

Poor Bernadette Soubirous, gathering firewood in the dump at Massabielle, has a vision of a beautiful lady praying the Rosary.  The mysterious Lady asks her to return regularly.  Despite her efforts to keep her visions a secret, word soon gets out, dividing the townsfolk into believers and skeptics.  More ominously, the local authorities move against her, fearing that the sophisticates of Paris will write them off as backwards and superstitious.  In time all resistance will be overcome by that gentle Power which will transform humble Lourdes into the Lady's kingdom and little Bernadette into a saint.

Franz Werfel wrote The Song of Bernadette to fulfill a vow he made while fleeing the fall of France.  It is a novel, not a biography, and is therefore obviously fictionalized, but Werfel's inventions are largely confined to reasonable extrapolations and the creation of ancillary characters as commentators on events.  These last rarely interact with the main characters, inhabiting a social and intellectual world far removed from that of the Soubirous family.  At the same time, their thoughts on the seemingly inexplicable events, their vain attempts to psychologize or mythologize the unexpected - and mostly unwelcome - irruption of the miraculous into their personal worlds, is perhaps the most profound part of the novel.  Perhaps this is because Werfel himself is amongst their company, attempting to more subtly smooth the sharp edges of reality.