Callista
John Henry Newman
Read by Carol Pelster
Callista, A Tale of the Third Century, was written by John Henry Newman, who was a scholarly and personable Anglican theologian who became a Catholic priest and cardinal, bringing a good number of Protestant friends along with him into the Roman faith. He wrote Callista as the fruit of a challenge (dare we say “bet”?) with Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman that each man would write a novel about the early church. Wiseman wrote Fabiola and Newman wrote Callista, publishing it in 1855. The title character is a beautiful and talented, but unhappy Greek woman living in pagan Roman North Africa in the third century. She is wooed by a lonely young Christian man, for whom she shows little interest, though she deeply desires to know more about his Christian faith. However, the third century was a dangerous time for Christians, with the onset of persecution under the Emperor Decius. The colorful cast of characters react to the persecution in different ways, but some are put to the ultimate test of whether they will maintain their faith at the price of torture and painful death. Cardinal Newman's writing style is often lively, and occasionally humorous, especially in his conversations. But there is no denying that modern readers may find parts of it quite wordy, particularly in the descriptions of geography (beware Chapter 1!). Most readers are likely to find themselves caring very much about the characters, and cheering for their victories, in addition to learning quite a bit about 3rd century history along the way. (summary by Carol Pelster) (10 hr 38 min)
Chapters
Chapter 1 | 22:51 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 2 | 18:11 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 3 | 8:02 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 4 | 14:06 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 5 | 20:49 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 6 | 21:29 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 7 | 25:06 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 8 | 19:44 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 9 | 32:17 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 10 | 21:53 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 11 | 23:45 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 12 | 16:04 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 13 | 24:11 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 14 | 14:15 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 15 | 17:11 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 16 | 16:45 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 17 | 16:20 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 18 | 21:43 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 19 | 24:43 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 20 | 13:10 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 21 | 6:16 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 22 | 29:59 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 23 | 16:15 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 24 | 12:23 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 25 | 9:51 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 26 | 17:00 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 27 | 23:35 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 28 | 22:33 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 29 | 20:07 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 30 | 22:16 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 31 | 14:31 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 32 | 8:02 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 33 | 15:08 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 34 | 7:43 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 35 | 9:05 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Chapter 36 | 10:59 | Read by Carol Pelster |
Reviews
Will F
Beautiful story from the time of the Christian persecution in North Africa. The reader does an amazing job bringing out the characters’ personalities.
This was a great story. Well read.
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