The Quiet Light: A Novel of St. Thomas Aquinas
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The battles and Crusades of the 13th century and the ruthlessness of the excommunicated Emperor Frederick II play a big part in the story, but it is Thomas of Aquino who dominates this book. De Wohl succeeds notably in portraying the exceptional quality of this man, a fusion of mighty intellect and childlike simplicity. A pupil of St. Albert the Great, the humble Thomas—through an intense life of study, writing, prayer, preaching and contemplation—ironically rose to become the influential figure of his age, and he later was proclaimed by the Church as the Angelic Doctor.
As in all of his novels about great saints of the church, Louis de Wohl weaves an intricate colorful tapestry of love, violence and piety to bring to life a tremendous historical figure and the fascinating period in which he lived.
Louis de Wohl was a distinguished and internationally respected Catholic writer whose books on saints have been best-sellers worldwide. Other available titles include Lay Siege to Heaven, Set All Afire and Citadel of God. Sixteen of his books were made into films.
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About the author
Louis de Wohl, earlier Ludwig von Wohl (1903-1961), was a German-born Catholic author who rose to international fame with the 1955 novel The Spear. He had also served as an astrologer for the British intelligence agency MI5 during World War II. His later novels are literary hagiographies of notable Roman Catholic saints and of different periods of the Bible.
He was born on January 24, 1903 in Berlin, Germany into a poor Catholic family. His Hungarian father and Austrian mother were both of Jewish descent. Wohl emigrated to England in 1935 due to his objections to the Nazi regime. Working as an astrologer for MI5 during World War II, he was recruited initially by Sir Charles Hambro, then running the Special Operations Executive, to devise black propaganda for use against Germany. In May 1941 he was sent to America to contribute to astrological magazines and newspapers which at the time were using articles by astrologers favourable to Nazi Germany. He returned to England in February 1942.
Wohl published many articles, lectured against Germany, and gave many interviews to the press. Sixteen of de Wohl's popular pre-war novels were the basis of movies, one of the best known being the 1934 comedy classic Die englische Heirat (The English Marriage).
During the war, Wohl had become increasingly religious, and he forged a successful post-war career, writing novels that treat of Roman Catholic Church history and the lives of the saints, including St. Benedict and St. Francis of Assissi, and of different periods of the Bible.
Wohl died in Switzerland on June 2, 1961 aged 58.
