Praise for The Confessions of X

Wolfe’s lyrical prose flows as softly as the sands of time in this tale that spans a lifetime. The woman from Augustine’s past—and Augustine’s mother, Monica—breathe here for perhaps the first time and inspire reflection on love and loss. A perfect book for history lovers, readers of Image magazine, which Wolfe helped found, and anyone looking for a stirring tale of love under wraps.

—Publishers Weekly

 

Suzanne Wolfe gives us, in The Confessions of X, the absolutely compelling story of the mysterious unnamed woman with whom Augustine spent so many formative years of his life. What I found so very fascinating about this book is its evocation not only of a place and time but of love, that between a great man and a great woman, all told in some of the most lyric and emotionally insightful language I can remember reading. This is a beautiful and worthy book.

—Bret Lott, author of Jewel and A Song I Knew by Heart

 

I hope your whole afternoon is free: you are likely to read this absorbing—truly engrossing—novel in a single sitting. Because of the captivating prose, and because of the intimately available characters, you are likely to read it again, a second and third time. And after you close The Confessions of X, you are likely to pick up Augustine’s Confessions, whether for a first or fifteenth read.

—Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Still

 

Saying I love Suzanne Wolfe’s new novel is like saying there are waves in the ocean. It doesn’t even begin to do justice to how much I believe in this story. It totally transported me. Wolfe didn’t write this character – she possessed her. And because of that – she has now possessed me. I have lived a complete life as the concubine of a Saint. This novel is just that real and exactly that good.

—River Jordan, author of Saints in Limbo and The Miracle of Mercy Land

 

The Confessions of X is a masterpiece of historical fiction. As with any fine work of art, it is multi-layerd, vibrant, thought provoking and memorable. With beautiful descriptions, well defined characters and thorough research, Suzanne M. Wolfe makes the ancient city of Carthage rise up from the pages. Wolfe transforms a sliver of history into a remarkable story of forbidden love, unfathomable sacrifice and redemption of the human spirit. The Confessions of X is one of my favorite novels of the year.

—Michael Morris, author of Man in the Blue Moon, Slow Way Home and A Place Called Wiregrass

 

A gorgeous, poignant story—a journey both in time and to the soul. Wolfe’s writing is evocative, her research immaculate. I am a fan.

—Tosca Lee, author of The Legend of Sheba: Rise of a Queen and Iscariot

 

In this skillful, passionate book Suzanne Wolfe performs the great double artistry of the historical novelist, bringing to life rich, enthralling characters along with the world they walked through, with all of its vivid terrors and joy. Writing in glorious detail, Wolfe brings to life a woman “lost to history,” and in so doing animates the full, profound, thrilling world she inhabited, and the aching knot of love and faith that sustains, undoes, and ultimately uplifts her.

—Erin McGraw, author of The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard

 

In this absorbing work of fiction the author teases out historical clues gleaned from the writings of Augustine. Her evocative narrative voice awakens us to the struggles between flesh and spirit that infiltrate the Confessions and their author. A master of resonant language, Wolfe enlarges on pagan and Christian cultures of the time, as well as the philosophical and theological debate that characterized life in Carthage and Rome. As the very human relationship between saint and concubine is fleshed out with details from the author’s fertile imagination, The Confessions of X propels this story into a fresh understanding of the conflicts warring in the life of the saint and Bishop of Hippo.

—Luci Shaw, author, The Thumbprint in the Clay, and The Generosity–New and Selected Poems