Halfway to Heaven: The Hidden Life of the Sublime Carthusians

Written by the author of ReillyAce of Spies, this is an impressive book about the monastics of the order founded 900 years ago by St. Bruno. After sharing in a retreat at the Charterhouse in England, Lockhart steeped himself in the study of the Carthusians and their ancient examplars, among them Christ himself, John the Evangelist, the Essenes, later St. Anthony and others known as Desert Fathers. Cut off from the world, the ascetics devoted themselves to prayer, seeking direct communion with God; enveloped in silence and solitude, they have continued to follow the same way of life. Lockhart visited charterhouses for men and women in European countriesthere is now one in Vermont as wellwhile researching his beautifully written, fervently felt history. The photos here visually convey the calm, spiritual atmosphere of enclaves ""halfway to heaven.'' (November 24)