Long before Dan Brown discovered that religious institutions could be just as fruitful as law firms and airports for telling a compelling story, best-selling author of family sagas and historical novels Susan Howatch redirected her literary career with a series of novels about the upper echelons of the Anglican church. Mysteries and human failings abound, although nothing as sensational as secret codes revealing the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
In Howatch’s case, her change of subject matter coincided with a personal spiritual quest that resulted in her commitment to high Anglicanism. Unlike many converts, who in their enthusiasm are blind to the human dimension of their new home, Howatch is too keen a student of life to paint an idealized picture. Some of her characters are saintly, but they remain human. Her commitment is best evidenced by her portrayal of most as genuine about their faith. The problem is, most have a public face (the glittering image) and a tormented inner life.
This inner turmoil is particularly true of the narrator/protagonist, Charles Ashworth. He is well-named since he is convinced he is unworthy, much like ashes. But in Christian tradition, ashes are the sign of penance in the hope of regeneration through the death and resurrection of Christ.
The torments of all main characters revolve around difficult marriages. It is no coincidence that the inciting incident of the book comes soon after a House of Lords debate in 1937 of a bill introduced to liberalize divorce. I won’t reveal more about the plot except to say that Howatch has created an interesting story, with enough melodramatic twists and turns to keep it a page-turner. In the end, it all seemed too pat, but the way there held my interest.
This even though much of the plot is recounted in dialogue, rather than in narrated action. While it was interesting to read Howatch’s depiction of the work of an insightful spiritual director, both strict and compassionate, not only this spiritual director, Jonathan Darrow, but several other characters display an uncanny ability to analyze in a way that neatly sums up the psychological traumas of the several characters.
Howatch has done her homework. The requisite theological authors, ancient and modern, are name-checked. Characters are also prone to use the titles of novels—Jane Eyre, Barchester Towers, Lady Chatterley's Lover—to describe their situations.
The title phrase, “Glittering Images,” appears early and recurs often throughout the book, but not in a univocal way. Among the theological discussions is one about the quest for the historical Jesus, the one behind the glittering image of the Gospel accounts. Since salvation for Charles, Lyle, and others involves stripping away the image and coming to grips with the person hidden behind, it’s surprising that Howatch makes nothing of what this might mean in the case of Christ.
At one point, when the Bishop of Starbridge is verbally fencing with Ashworth, who is intent on digging out a lurid secret he suspects the bishop of hiding, the bishop refers to an Agatha Christie crime story, then generalizes: “I always find the more I read that story the more intrigued I become by the narrator’s omissions and evasions.” This unreliability, it turns out, is relevant when applied to the Bishop, but since the protagonist narrates Glittering Images, I kept wondering when we would discover that this dictum applies to him as well. In the end, it seems that he has been all-too-truthful; there is no hint that he is an unreliable narrator. This seemed careless on the author’s part.
I also felt that the crisis leading to a resolution unfolds inconsistently. When the mystery Ashworth had pursued becomes revealed, it is clear that three women were complicit in imposing a situation on the bishop; yet before long, Darrow seemed to hold the bishop alone accountable.
Despite all the flaws, I enjoyed reading this book immensely, and will probably pick up others in the series when I’m in the need of some light entertainment, such as on an airplane flight. ( )

I very much enjoyed reading this book but it never seemed entirely real or entirely believable. I wanted to find out about the characters and was intrigued by the level of psychological depth the author was able to enter into but somehow it all seemed a bit contrived. The latter part of the book is the endless, lengthy unburdening of everyone's soul but they all do it with such readiness which whilst convenient for the reader seems so remote from reality.

Sometimes it also feels very dated. Although the book is set in the 1930s it often betrays its 1980s heritage and it feels like someone trying to reflect 1980s sexual obsessions into a bygone age. It is never clear whether the sexual morality is that of the 1930s or the battle to fit Christianity into the morals of the 1980s. Nevertheless it is a jolly good story. ( )

3.5 I picked this up because Jaqueline Winspear, an author I like a lot, said this series was one of her favorites. The book evolves around a vicar in the Church of England who is tormented by the discrepancies between his public persona and what he believes is his real self. The roll of sex is a theme in the book, and there was a bit too much of that for me. It wasn't gratuitous since it figured into the angst and downfall of some of the characters, but it could have toned down. I was interested in the main character and how he worked through an emotional breakdown to become more spiritually and mentally healthy, but in the end it felt a little too romancey for me to think I want to try another in the series. ( )

This book rode my book shelf for several years. I picked it up, and others of the Starbridge series from a used book sale at a theological library. A friend suggested it telling me that the characters in this series were based on theologians and churchmen in the Church of England. I love church history and was interested. My wife read a later book in the series and didn't enjoy it, so it kind of killed my excitement in starting in on these. But as I have been downsizing my library I thought I'd give it a go.

Absolutely brilliant. The plot centers on Charles Ashworth in 1937, a canon who is commissioned by Archbishop Cosmo Gordon Lang to investigate the sexual impropriety of a rival bishop, the fictional bishop of Starbridge, Alex Jardine. Ashworth starts out sleuthing around the Bishop's palace but his identification with Jardine reveals some cracks in his own character. This leads to a full-blown break down for Ashworth. Ashworth is led back to spiritual (and psychological) health through his counsel with his spiritual director, a world-wise ex-Navy Chaplain and Fordite Monk, John Darrow. Darrow helps Ashworth confront his 'glittering image' which gives him compassion for others with their glittering images.

This book is part mystery, part love story, part sorrid sexual tale, part mystical treatise. I enjoyed this book a lot and am interested in reading others in the series.

One small point of critique is that the female characters are not as fleshed out as the male character are in this novel. It may Just be that Howatch's protagonist here is a clergyman in the 1930s.






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I have had this book for a while and glad that I finally got round to it. Charles Ashworth is a bishop in the CofE and is sent by the Archbishop of Canterbury to Starbridge to check out the bishop there. It forces him to confront what he really believes and what he wants out of live. In his quest he meets Jon Darrow the abbot of the Fordite monastery who seems to have a strange insight into those areound him.

I really enjoyed this book which is the first in a series although at times I got confused by ther terminology. It seemed more Catholic than CofE at times. A good reminder that Christians have the same problems to face as everyone else. ( )