Helena by Evelyn Waugh

In famed author’s historical novel, Helena, Evelyn Waugh takes a number of admitted liberties in writing the story of the Saint Helena, mother to Constantine the Great. The story itself, outside of author Waugh’s hands, is interesting enough. Saint Helena’s life straddles one of the most important epochs in church history -- when the Church of God went from persecuted outlaw religion to tolerated by civil authorities to de facto state religion. We do not know a lot about Helena from an historical point of view, but we do know from all accounts that she was a devout benefactor to the Church. Her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we also know, culminated in the excavation of the True Cross, which remains one of Christendom’s most treasured relics. The vacuum of other information provides Waugh ample room craft his story.

Waugh makes a number of choices in imagining the story of Saint Helena. First, and most importantly, he drafts her as a fellow Briton. While the case, we are told by professional historians, for Helena’s british origins is weak (she was likely from the East), it always possible that Constantine’s father took her as his wife when he was stationed in Britain. Waugh studiously avoids detailing the conversion of Helena, which is something that itself could have been interested.

The good of the book, and why I persevered in reading it, was the description of how Saint Helena came to discover the True Cross. But in the whole, I was disappointed with Waugh’s treatment of the story. For those familiar with Waugh’s considerable literary talents, my sense is most others will be disappointed by it. The chronology seems disjointed, the dialogue seems forced, and the characters often lack even imaginary realism. While I wanted quite badly for Waugh to transport me to Roman Empire, I could not help but feel he had transported me to an obvious fictional account. None of the depth that a Waugh reader would expect is there.

Admittedly, the bar for my expectations for this book were high. I expected a great and compelling little novel from Waugh and I was disappointed. That said, there is such a dearth of Catholic fiction -- and a Catholic fiction that takes seriously the rich Catholic past -- that I would still recommend this book.