The Gospel in Dorothy L Sayers: Selections from Her Novels, Plays, Letters, and Essays

Reviewed by:

G. Connor Salter, Professional Writing alumnus from Taylor University, Upland, IN.

Title:

The Gospel in Dorothy L Sayers: Selections from Her Novels, Plays, Letters, and Essays

Author:

Dorothy Sayers, edited by Carole Vanderhof (with an appreciation by C.S. Lewis)

Publisher:

Plough Publishing

Publication Date:

October 30, 2018

Format:

Paperback

Length:

270 pages

OVERVIEW

During her lifetime, Dorothy Sayers was a respected author who wrote numerous detective stories, plays and lay theology works. Her work (and her association with writers like C.S. Lewis) continues to have a great impact today, particularly her book The Mind of the Maker, a thesis on creativity. In this collection, Carole Vanderhof creates twenty chapters which each cover a particular theme from Sayers’ work (such as “Time and Eternity,” “Resurrection” and “Creativity”). Within each chapter, readers find quotes Sayers’ stories or nonfiction work that relate to that particular theme.

The fact readers are usually only reading quotations from Sayers’ work (although some of her shorter articles are reprinted in full) can make this feel like a hodge-podge of a book at first. But Vanderhof does a masterful job of picking quotes that clearly relate to each theme, and when needed she adds explanatory notes so readers get the full context. Readers not familiar with Sayers will find this book to a good introduction. Readers who already know of her will find the book shows the full range of her work, showing them sides of Sayers that they may not have discovered yet.

A terrific anthology of work by one of the twentieth century’s great Christian writers.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5 stars)

5 stars

Suggested Audience

Readers interested in Sayers’ work and how theological themes informed the many genres she wrote in.

Christian Impact

Sayers’ thoughts on creativity, morality and related Christian themes are just as compelling today as they ever were, and many readers will be enlightened by them.