Book Review: The Betrothed

With the beginning of summer this month, it’s time for a book review.  For those of you looking for some spiritual reading in the form of a novel, The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni is your book.  A few weeks ago I was listening to the papal general audience and he recommended the novel as one of his favorite literary pieces.  He shared that his grandma used to read it to him as a child and that throughout his life he had read it many times and kept it at his bedside table in hopes of rereading it again.  My book-loving nerd’s heart beat rapidly as I learned about the classic novel- for rarely do novels get recommended as spiritual reading!  As the novel arrived in the mail I had high expectations for it came with the strongest recommendation and I must say I was not disappointed!  Pope Francis recommended the novel especially for single people specifically those who are engaged to be married, he said that it was a great story of love, suffering and testimony of faithfulness.  The novel narrates the story of an engaged couple that are prevented from marrying by the town’s tyrant and must flee to escape his wrath, but through circumstances are separated and face many difficulties.  Their separation leads both on different adventures that tests the strength of their love, commitment to each other and their faith in the goodness of God.  The novel not only portrays a very real love story, but it shows how God is always working for the good of those who love him.  God can turn the worst circumstances and create powerful moments of conversion and redemption.  The Betrothed is full of teachable moments.  I learned a great deal from the protagonists of the novel and it increased my faith in the journey- while I was expecting to read a typical love romance I quickly realized that God had so much more for me.

Perseverance- In today’s culture we are bombarded with two messages when it comes to love between a man and a woman: first it must move quickly and two if it gets too hard quit.  In a way I think that mentality has contaminated the church and today many Christians want things easy and efficiently.  Yet, Pope Francis reminds us that marriage is serious and the period of getting to know each other must happen slowly and with a desire to really get to know and be known by the beloved.  The journey of the lovers in The Betrothed is a long one, yet they face every struggle in faithfulness to one another and the promise they made to marry.  The story really helped me understand the importance of perseverance and patience.  Many times when we are looking for our mate we want the timing and the person to be perfect, yet we are all works in progress.  We all come to one another with lots of imperfections and we must realize that love is not easy.  In fact, when we open ourselves to love we are opening ourselves to hurt, but if we persevere with patience and faith than the hurt we experience will be nothing compared to the love and joy we will receive and give one another.

Redemption- In The Betrothed various stories go on at once, yet all the characters are interconnected.  Lucia (the protagonist) gets kidnapped and through the experience she’s able to bring God to a villain who has an astonishing conversion that transforms his life.  Through this horrific event a soul is returned to God (smile).  The separation from her lover, brings Lucia into the life of a villainous man and while the experience for her is very trying if life had not led her through this path a soul would have been lost.  This narrative helped me understand that God uses everything for the good of those who love him.  Sometimes, people come into our lives for a moment and it saddens us to see them leave, but how great would it be if they left our side a little more lifted.  Many times we are so concerned with what we will get out of things that we forget to be a blessing to others.  Yet, everywhere we go we must share the gospel and trust that God will take care of us.

The Betrothed is seriously a very good novel and I recommend that you read it even if you are not engaged or even in a relationship because the themes and values really motivated me to be a better person.  The novel paints a real picture of love, society, and God.  It also shows ways to be holy especially during trials and tribulations.