This is book 4 of The Hawk and the Dove series. I believe this is my favorite, so far. While I miss Father Peregrine, I enjoyed reading about the new abbot and the problem he encounters right away, having to deal with a difficult man who has been encountered once before in a previous book. I liked the way the chapters were laid out also, one chapter for each day of Lent. One of the things I enjoyed in this book was the feeling of what goes on daily at the monastery. I "felt" the setting more in this book than the others. The message is strong, as Wilcock does in all of these books. ( )

Title: The Hardest Thing to Do (The Hawk & The Dove Volume 4)
Author: Penelope Wilcock
Pages: 256
Year: 2015
Publisher: Lion Fiction
The brothers of St. Alcuin’s are back in this fourth book, preparing for the new abbot’s return. Brother John is now the Abbot and has returned after a year’s training in Cambridge to take up the position of leader of St. Alcuin’s. He doesn’t feel up to the task of filling Father Peregrine’s shoes. As he begins his service, he is overwhelmed with the details and never-ending duties of his office. He still has the heart of a healer and sometimes wonders if he has made the right decision is becoming abbot.
In addition to all his new responsibilities, an enemy of Father Peregrine’s shows up at the doorstep of the monastery seeking admittance. This throws the brotherhood into division as to how to proceed with this newcomer in their midst. Some want to refuse him admittance while others plead to show mercy and the love of Christ to him. Can the brothers come to a uniform decision or will this be a splinter that continues to fester until the infection spreads unchecked.
I would recommend reading the series in order from the beginning before reading this fourth book. I have enjoyed this series tremendously. The writing evokes emotions and touches the heart. I can’t imagine having less in common with monks in medieval England, but their emotional and spiritual struggles ring true to me in this day and age. The author writes with great depth and has researched well her topic. I feel as if I’m right there in the monastery with the monks, living life with them daily. Readers will see humor in some characters, legalism in some and great compassion and mercy by showing the love of Christ in others. This series is definitely on my “keeper” shelf and I hope it will be on your shelf as well!
My rating is 5 stars.
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Each successive book that I read in Penelope Wilcock’s series, The Hawk And The Dove, is my favorite. The quiet, yet powerful books that detail 14th century monastic life are truly treasures. In the fourth book of the series, The Hardest Thing to Do, the community is turned on its head when a hated and hateful Augustinian prior arrives seeking sanctuary. The brothers find that often the hardest thing to do is the most critical.

The community of St. Alcuin is in a transition period. As they enter the Lenten season, they await the return of Brother John, the former infirmarian who will take over as abbott. Winter still has a hold over northern England, but the promise of Spring is a whisper of hope to their souls. The deprivation and denial of Lent also brings forth spiritual fruit and growth. Abbott John is soon tested in his new obedience when faced with the turmoil that erupts following Father William’s arrival.

The phrase the hardest thing to do is repeated throughout this book. The monks face it when trying to live in peace in a community with diverse attitudes and temperaments. They find it in mundane activities as well as in the spiritual realm. There is an underlying theme of forgiveness and mercy that is well-suited to the season of Lent and the monk’s preparations for the Easter feast. I love how Wilcock takes the unfamiliar lives of 14th century monks and makes them relevant for modern day believers. The book reinforces the message of community in Scripture — the truth that we are of one body and every member is important no matter his role. I also liked that forgiveness is depicted in a realistic way — a hard thing for those who must give it as well as for those who receive. Beloved characters from previous books make an appearance as well as new who add to the diversity and vitality of the monastery of St. Alcuin.

It is not necessary to have read the first 3 books in the series to enjoy The Hardest Thing to Do, but I would recommend that you do. The series is wonderful; you need the full experience. You can check out my reviews of the first 3 books HERE.

Highly Recommended.

Audience: adults.

(Thanks to Kregel and Lion Hudson for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) ( )

I was re-reading The Peacemaker by Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries when I received Penelope Wilcock’s new book, The Hardest Thing To Do, in the mail. What a lovely (and convicting) serendipity! Ms. Wilcock’s new installment in the saga of the monks of St. Alcuin’s Abbey is a long time in coming. The original trilogy of books about St. Alcuin’s and Father Peregrine its abbot began with The Hawk and the Dove and continued in The Wounds of God and The Long Fall. These three books were published by Crossway in the early 1990’s.

Now we have a fourth book in the series, twenty years later, and it lives up to the fine standard set by the other three. In The Hardest Thing To Do, St. Alcuin’s has a new abbott, Father John, but the brothers are still serving each other and the same Lord, still living quiet, peaceable lives, still striving to practice the rule of St. Benedict in a fallen world. And of course, as is the way of this world, the brothers have a new challenge when they must decide what to do with a human “wolf” who has come into the sheepfold and who threatens to spoil both their peace and their way of life.

In The Hardest Thing To Do, Ms. Wilcock has dropped the framing story that she used in at least the first book of The Hawk and the Dove trilogy. In that first book, a mother was telling stories about the abbey of St. Alcuin’s to her daughters who were experiencing some of the same growing pains as the monks. The part of the novels that is most memorable, however, is the story of the monks themselves, so it was a good move to drop the frame and concentrate on the abbey.

I was concerned that this sequel, twenty years later, might not live up to the quality and depth of the first three books in the series, but I needn’t have worried. Ms. Wilcock, a Methodist minister, has a fine grasp of human foibles and sin and peace-making and the cost of following Christ in our interpersonal relationships. The book is about radical, costly forgiveness, and it doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulties of such a choice to forgive our enemies. Forgiveness and reconciliation in the face of real hurt truly are the hardest things to do.

Asking for forgiveness:

I am filled with terror lest you turn me away. I long for the beautiful Gospel that has always puzzled me, but that I know has a beacon in the life of this house. For the forgiveness and gentleness I have found, I should like the chance to show my gratitude. For the hurt and anger I have caused, I should like time to try and make amends. And I have glimpsed the face of Christ here. Before that glimpse dims and is smutched and bleared by the sordid life of the world, I should like to try if I might to touch for myself the vision of that fair loveliness. . . compassion . . . faith . . . peace.

I would pray that all of us could be enabled to do the hard work of forgiving and asking and receiving forgiveness because it’s the only way to true heart peace ( )

This book was so very boring for me, I could not finish reading it. It was so slow moving I quit reading it and donated to my local library. ( )