By Robert Hugh Benson

None Other Gods tells of one Frank Guiseley, a young man who abruptly departs his Cambridge education to “take to the roads” of England. Eventually, the novelty of these newfound wandering ways wears off; yet Frank has discovered that life is now imbued with a new and mysterious sense of purpose and peace—a sensibility he cannot help but feel is only possible by the unequivocal, fullhearted renouncing of the world and its riches. Having converted to the Catholic faith while at Cambridge, Frank experiences the transformative changes of grace—what Benson so aptly defines in the novel’s Dedication as “purgation, illumination, and union.” 

First published in 1911, Benson’s None Other Gods is good literary company for novels like G. K. Chesterton’s Manalive and Myles Connolly’s Mr. Blue— depicting a life that contradicts all conventionalities and embraces at its end the ultimate sacrifice of loving friendship.

“Here, in what is supposed by the world to be the narrow constraint of religion, was a liberty and an outlook into realities such as the open road and nature can but seldom give.”

Robert Hugh Benson (1871–1914), son of the Anglican Archbishop of Canter­bury, was a convert to the Roman Catholic faith and was ordained a priest in 1904. A dynamic preacher and author, Benson wrote numerous novels, short stories, plays, and spiritual texts. A number of his works are now available from Cluny, including Come Rack, Come Rope; The Light Invisible; and Lord of the World.

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Paperback: 304pp.

ISBN: 978-1944418656