Naked Believer

From the beginning the bright and articulate English teacher and the tall strong and equally bright minister sense they are different but they assume they can still enjoy a friendship. And they do; Mary Kerrigan and Walter Macdonald play and probe and spar. Then the unanticipated happens: friendship deepens into love and differences that were intriguing when they were just friends become ominous. Shes irreverent; hes traditional. Shes unfettered; hes committed. Shes a disbeliever; hes a believer. She wont believe; he wont not believe. They are an even match. Its more than a lovers quarrel--Mary and Walter are worlds apart in ways that matter. They want desperately to find a bridge between their worlds. Their struggle pits passion against convictions. Longing for the impossible becomes finally unbearable; they have to choose. This engaging and satisfying novel gives fresh context to two classic encounters. First there is the strong attraction between a man and a woman both of whom dance vigorously back and forth between the accelerator and the brake pedal. Second there is the stark contrast between the belief systems of these two characters. The whole moves in a tense blend of slow ease and rapid urgency somewhat reminiscent of Dreiser. --Henry Taylor Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry Naked Believer is a lively Graham Greene sort of novel a story about ordinary people looking for love only to be surprised that God was looking for them. Doug Walrath is a great storyteller who gives us characters who are not only believable but also likeable. While these dear people go about their lives more is going on in their story than they know and we the readers get to be surprised along with them. A joy to read. --Will Willimon Author of Incorporation and Im Not from Here This inspirational novel describing the spiritual conflict between a man and woman who are enormously attracted to each other but divided by belief combines the passion and tension of new romance with a deep dialogue about God faith and cultural conventions about religion as a salvage operation and the search for a God who is more than a cosmic ambulance attendant. A thoroughly provocative and enjoyable book! --Janet T. Mills Maine Attorney General Douglas Alan Walrath is Lowry Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology at the former Bangor Theological Seminary (now the BTS Center). He is the author or co-author of ten books including Displacing the Divine: The Minister in the Mirror of American Fiction. For many years he has worked as a social researcher and strategic planning consultant throughout the United States Canada and England. He lives in Maine.