Understanding sacrifice is theme of Virginia Catholic writer's novel

Published: 2006-03-07

BLACKSBURG, Va. (CNS) -- Killing spiders on Good Friday, building bonfires to burn Judas in effigy on Holy Saturday, draping purple cloths over crucifixes and holy pictures -- welcome to Holy Week in the recollections of Catholic author Irma Silva-Barbeau. These memories also are found in the pages of her first novel, "A Sweet Oblation," from Tate Publishing in Oklahoma. Silva-Barbeau, of Blacksburg, explores the joy of loving sacrifice through the open heart of a child who is learning the meaning behind the religious and cultural practices of Lent and Easter. She places the story in the colorful culture of her native Cape Verde in the years before the Second Vatican Council. The country is a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the African country of Senegal. She takes the reader on a spiritual journey of discovery with her character, 12-year-old Isabel, as she probes the questions -- and the answers -- about self-denial and love of Jesus and the poor. The 149-page book costs $12.95 and is available online at: www.tatepublishing.com.

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