Public mysticism

• Main Author: TSE, Justin Kh
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2014
• Subjects: Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3363; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4620/viewcontent/Public_Mysticism_2014_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In 1980, gothic romance novelist Susan Howatch bought two flats in the Salisbury Cathedral Close, “one for living in and one for working.” Having moved back to England from America after a failed marriage, she found herself in a mid-life crisis, torn between her career success and her personal turmoil. Though not a Christian, she was “systematically seduced” by the dominating architectural structure in her neighborhood, the historic Salisbury Cathedral. As she went in for a few minutes every day, she “began to go through the religious section of the Salisbury public library like a vacuum cleaner,” which not only led to her conversion to Anglican Christianity, but the production of six long novels that have developed somewhat of a cult following in Anglican circles. Known as the Church of England series, the novels revolve around the lives of clergy ministering at the pseudonymous Starbridge Cathedral, digging deep into the theology, booze, and sex lives of bishops, priests, lay people, and monks from across the Anglican theological spectrum.