745. Late Have I Loved Thee, by Ethel Mannin (read 30 Jul 1963) I read this right after my mother died (on 24 July 1953) and I was susceptible to its theme, as I recall. ( )

This novel is the story of a twentieth century Augustine -- a worldly young man who forsakes his worldly status and success when he finds God. The title is a quotation from Book I of St Augustine of Hippo's Confessions -- "Late have I loved Thee, beauty ever ancient and ever new!" The plot is largely a fictionalized updating of Augustine's own journey into faith. I first read this as a teenager, many years before I ever read Augustine's Confessions, and a few years before I discovered Thomas Merton's The Seven Story Mountain, the true story of Merton's own life, which in many ways also parallels that of St Augustine. ( )