The Island of Mists and Miracles by Victoria Mas

On a small island just off the coast of Brittany, a lonely young boy looks up to the sky and sees a vision of a woman surrounded by bright golden light. He is transfixed by what he sees and stands motionless looking upward, as if in a trance, until the clouds close over once again and his mind returns to the world around him. A woman he knows well is a witness to what is happening to the boy, and although she cannot see or hear anything, she is convinced that the boy has seen a vision of the Virgin Mary. The boy is confused by all the fuss that is being made, but he has been told when to return to the headland to see the vision again, and it isn't long before the whole population of the island has heard what has happened to him.

The woman in the vision promises to return to the promontory and by the time she returns the islanders have created a make-shift shrine and many have gathered in the normally deserted place hoping to see something miraculous. The sightings over a week become something of a show and the author examines how different people respond to it and there are many different reactions amongst those involved.

The author, Victoria Mas, cleverly leaves the reader to decide if the boy has seen the Virgin Mary or not, as there are parts of the book that seem to support this but then there are also more rational explanations running alongside that suggest more mundane causes. It is the uncertainty that carries the storyline through and it is not necessary for the reader to firmly take one side or the other.

The book is based on an event that happened in 1830 when a young novice nun, Catherine Laboure, was said to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary in a chapel, and in the novel another (fictional) novice is inspired by the story and longs to have a vision of her own. One of the older nuns has had a premonition in a dream that Sister Anne will be present some day when the Virgin Mary appears in Brittany, and when this actually comes to pass it is not the experience that might have been expected.

In the short space of just over two hundred pages the author poses questions about the nature of faith and what motivates people to hold certain beliefs. Is it necessary to have been taught a religion to experience something spiritual? Are we conditioned by society to only believe people if they fit an expected template? How far should we be open minded to anything that challenges 'normal' life?

Plenty to think about here and well worth a read.

Comments

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