Saint Julian: A Novel - Hardcover

A stunning spiritual tale in the English literary tradition--a saint's tale for modern readers In this spiritual allegory, the young knight Julian is an avid--even voracious--hunter and sportsman. But his thrill at taking the lives of his prey becomes an obsession until he one day confronts a mystical deer that prophesies that Julian will murder his own parents. Terrified, Julian travels across the world to make a home for himself as far from his parents as possible. As fate has it, his parents search for him and his wife takes them into Julian's castle and lets them sleep in the master bedroom. Julian returns late at night, enters the bedroom, and thinking he has found his wife with a secret lover, murders them both. Realizing that the prophecy has come true, Julian leaves home for a lifetime of wandering and seeking penance. Ultimately he becomes a ferryman at a dangerous river crossing. When an elderly leper shows up and makes unusual demands upon Julian's kindness and hospitality, Julian discovers--with his final breath--that the old leper is Jesus himself, come to absolve Julian of his sin