Saints and Villains
Synopsis
An astonishing historical novel in the tradition of Schindler's List, Saints and Villains fictionalizes real historical events to powerfully evoke the danger and heroism of the Nazi resistance.
German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an emblematic figure who risked his life — and ultimately lost it — in a failed plot to assassinate Hitler and topple the Nazi regime.
What is the price of acting morally in a time of great evil? Is sin acceptable if it will prevent greater evil? Giardina dramatizes these critical questions through the fictional re-creation of Bonhoeffer's life.
Her sweeping narrative moves from Berlin to London to New York City. With shattering historical events, clandestine meetings, perilous missions abroad, and eventual imprisonments and death, it is as gripping as any thriller.
Bold in its conception, the book is written with great skill and sensitivity. Giardina has been rightly acclaimed for this brilliant novel.
First published 1998.
Hardback by W.W. Norton, 487pp; paperback by Ballantine Books, 512pp
Background
When I was a young postulant preparing for seminary in the mid-1970s, my Episcopal priest gave me a copy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison. I was moved by the ordeal Bonhoeffer endured in prison as he faced almost certain death, and I was challenged by the way his theology developed in extremity. He seemed to me an extraordinary Christian.
As a child the network TV documentary of William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich had fascinated and horrified me. As a young writer the story of the young men and women of the White Rose, university students in Munich who opposed their government, caught my attention. I thought that some day I would write a novel about Nazi Germany and the White Rose.
My West Virginia novels came first. By the time I turned to Nazi Germany, I was in my early forties. The youthful, impudent university students receded in my mind — I was captivated instead by the middle-aged Bonhoeffer and the complex choices he faced as he balanced family responsibility, the desire to make a stand, and plain fear. Bonhoeffer literally took over my novel and demanded it be about his situation.
The university students of the White Rose are still present in Saints and Villains but not central, rather a counterpoint to the moral dilemmas faced by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I hope I have also introduced other extraordinary figures that deserve to be remembered, such as the American theologian Reinhold Neibuhr. Then there is George Bell, the Anglican bishop of Chichester, whose consistent witness led him to oppose Nazis, stand against the bombing of German civilians, communicate with the German resistance across enemy lines, and march against nuclear weapons in the 1950s. When I visited Chichester, England, I found he remains a beloved figure.
Some have wondered about my inclusion of the West Virginia material. Dietrich Bonhoeffer did travel through the American south after his year at Union Seminary in 1931. His friend and biographer, Eberhard Bethge, did not know the exact route Bonhoeffer took. Perhaps likely Bonhoeffer did not come to West Virginia, but as Bethge told me, when we met at a conference at Union Seminary in New York, in fiction, anything can happen.
The digging of the Hawk's Nest Tunnel, with its racism and its labor camps, and its concern for modern function and utility above human life, seems to me a precursor of Nazi Germany. Was Bonhoeffer there? He was in spirit. And perhaps he would challenge Americans today with questions. What about rich and powerful nations who invade small ones without provocation, such as in Iraq? What about nations who engage in torture? What about nations which aim to dominate rather than cooperate with the rest of the world? What about nations who allow wealthy corporations to run roughshod over human needs? What about nations where many so-called Christians support these views?
What the critics said
"[Giardina ] surpasses herself with this powerful re-creation of the life and martyrdom of German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer . . . A big novel in every sense of the word, and a triumphant portrayal of one of the century's authentic heroes." — Kirkus Reviews
"High drama . . . Stirring adventure . . . To find a historical figure like Dietrich Bonhoeffer packaged in what is essentially a moral thriller is a surprising joy." — The Boston Globe
"A masterpiece. . . One of the handful of best books I've ever read." — Annie Dillard
"A splendid novel about a splendid man." — The Philadelphia Inquirer
"[The book] manages the extremely difficult task of giving a known story genuine tension and spiritual resonance." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The story — compelling in and of itself — is engrossingly narrated, with an eye for significant detail, a strong sense of life's bitter ironies, and a powerful feeling of immediacy. The characters, especially Bonhoeffer himself, are lifelike and complex. Giardina also does a fine job of evoking the temper of the times she portrays." —Newsday
"Giardina creates a fictional account of Bonhoeffer that transcends the usual 'historical novel' as it becomes a dramatic meditation on the meaning of his life." — Herald-Leader (Lexington, KY)
"Bonhoeffer becomes a nervous, sympathetic everyman who, when faced with inhumanity rises to greatness. Giardina makes the reportedly stiff, bespectacled intellectual . . . into a hero to whom any reader can relate." —The Boston Globe
"If you want the definitive chronicling of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, read Eberhard Bethge's biography, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. But if you want to immerse yourself in the flesh-and-blood grapplings of faith and conscience that confront believers in any age — and enjoy a well-told yarn in the process — check out Giardina's novel." —Sojourners
Saints and Villains won the 1999 Fisk Fiction Prize (awarded by the Boston Book Review) and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Read an Excerpt
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