By Georges Bernanos

“I have seen a saint die, yes, with my own eyes, and it isn’t what you would expect…you have to nerve yourself before such an experience, you feel your soul’s armor cracking. It was then I understood what sin is.”

Joy is the story of Chantal de Clergerie, a young visionary who lives a life de­fined by innocence and purity amidst a tangle of insanity, and Abbé Cénabre, a priest grappling with the temptation to apostasy. Now the spiritual advisor to Chantal, Cénabre finds his presumption of knowledge’s saving power indicted by her graced modesty, patience, and childlike happiness. Continuing the story of his 1927 novel The Imposter, exchanging austerity for sublimity and ratiocination for mysticism, Bernanos employs his characteristically su­perb craftsmanship and brilliant dialogue to bring this drama of pride and humility to a shocking conclusion.

Awarded the 1929 Prix Femina, a literary prize given to the best French novel of the year, and critically lauded as an “an exalted tale,” Joy is a captivating, insightful, and profound look into the depths of the interior life.

Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) was a French Catholic author and critic. Winner of the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française in 1936 (for his novel The Diary of a Country Priest), Bernanos had numerous works adapted into film with great critical success; he remains one of France’s most respected writers.

Paperback: 220pp.

ISBN: 978-1952826443