NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- An intricate story told with a restraint that tantalizes and satisfies like great art or a beautiful woman, such is Joseph Roccasalvo's stirring trilogy.
A Catholic priest, Roccasalvo uses several literary genres and skillfully weaves them into a rich tapestry framed by the world of high culture. In these tales of obsessive love, danger, and redemption, the sacred and the profane are thrust together and grapple with conflicting emotions.
In Chartreuse, Blaise, the central character, goes to Switzerland once he learns he has inherited a parchment containing the recipe for nothing less than the elixir of life. He's directed to a monk at La Grande Chartreuse who alone knows how to execute the formula. Meanwhile, someone wants the Pope dead and has infected him with a fatal virus. The race is on: to save the Pope, to see which woman-his current lover or a flame from his past-will accompany Blaise; to learn if the culprit can keep the elixir from reaching the Vatican. In the plot's twists and turns, more than a plot goes on: a romance, a thriller, miraculous events, the journey of a young man and the chain of events that lead to his final, wrenching choice.
Portrait of a Woman follows the life of Beatrice Stradivari, a last descendant of the violin family. Through interlocking stories, the main character emerges: as a young guitarist who claims the heart of two men; as a rescuer of Italian Jews during the Holocaust; as an aging Benedictine nun, Mother Ambrose. She captures the imagination of Philip Stratton, a successful young novelist, who sees her as the embodiment of his muse. Jealous of the unnamed man who once won her heart, he sets out to discover Mother Ambrose's secret by journeying to the shores of Como, Istanbul, and Dubrovnik. Nothing of what Philip learns completes the puzzle of Mother Ambrose's life until she finally surrenders the last piece.
The third novel of Roccasalvo's trilogy, The Odor of Sanctity, centers on Peter, a Jewish convert about to takes his final vows as a Jesuit priest. When he learns his grandfather, murdered at Auschwitz, has left him a fortune in an anonymous, unnumbered Swiss account, he ponders whether to pursue this fortune and how. His major clues are the odors of scented stationery; his major complication, a beautiful woman offering help and then falling in love. Religious commitment and the lure of millions, romantic love and the call to priesthood all play out against the terrible odds of dead ancestors and the Holocaust remembered. How Peter decides makes this novel not only a page-turner but also a study in heroism.
Astute, astringent, astonishing, Roccasalvo's prose shimmers and enchants. The books seem to be asking their readers: "Do you find yourself lost with the sad successful ones in the desert of modern culture? Let us help you find your soul."
The trilogy provides a primer of spirituality that avoids all partisan theology. You will search in vain for religious propaganda. For these are rare works of fiction that artfully combine a love story, a thriller of personality, and a memoir of joy lost and repossessed.
About the Author: Joseph Roccasalvo teaches Comparative Religion and Buddhist Studies at Fordham University, Lincoln Center. He is a standing member of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard, and holds a Ph.D. from that university. A Catholic priest, he lives and writes in New York City. To learn more, visit
Chartreuse -- By Joseph Roccasalvo -- Publication Date: June 21,
2003 Trade Paperback; $21.99; 244 pages; 1-4010-0934-4 -- Cloth
Hardback; $31.99; 244 pages; 1-4010-0933-6
The Odor of Sanctity -- By Joseph Roccasalvo - Publication Date:
June 22, 2003 Trade Paperback; $20.99; 185 pages; 1-4010-0937-9 -
Cloth Hardback; $30.99; 185 pages; 1-4010-0936-0
Portrait of a Woman -- By Joseph Roccasalvo -- Publication Date:
June 22, 2003 Trade Paperback; $21.99; 256 pages; 1-4010-0940-9 -
Cloth Hardback; $31.99; 256 pages; 1-4010-0939-5
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