Robert Wanless

Tobias and the Angel Robert Wanless

What we have here is the Book of Tobit, one the 'apocryphal' stories in the Bible. It is about how Raphael, one of the seven archangels who stand before the throne of God, healed a man who had lost his eyesight in a most peculiar accident and restored the consequential loss of his fortune. This same archangel then rescued a young woman from the spell of an evil demon and helped a young man to gain courage and self-confidence then brings about the happy marriage of those two young people. Very simply put, it is a good old-fashioned Romance, a delightful story of love and adventure. Up until the eighteenth century the story had been very popular, serving as the subject of paintings and even an opera. In the past century it has shown up as the base for a couple of novels (besides this one). Reading from it, albeit quite abbreviated, often show up in the cycle of Scripture readings in the liturgy of the Catholic Church and not infrequently as one of the readings to be selected for Catholic wedding ceremonies. Robert Wanless has taken a few liberties with the story, but only a few, and then only insofar as to embellish an already lovely story. He has also treated the story with the reverence which all sacred scripture deserves. Many of the events and conversations, even, a couple which seem a bit much, fabricated for 'modern readers' are actually from the original scripture. The book is dedicated to the memory of Msgr. Charles F. Gable, and to the good souls at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.