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Henri Nouwen and The Return of the Prodigal Son: The Making of a Spiritual Classic
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming is Henri Nouwen’s most popular book, selling over one million copies since its publication in 1992. What accounts for its ongoing popularity as a spiritual classic? Drawing from extensive research in Nouwen’s archives, author and Chief Archivist for the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust, Gabrielle Earnshaw, provides a detailed account of how the book came to be written, shedding light on Nouwen’s writing process and aspects of his life experience that influenced his insights and ideas. Earnshaw examines Nouwen’s intellectual formation as well as the impact of his family and friends on the shape of the book. Letters, many published here for the first time, give us a privileged look at Henri’s world during the nine years he took to complete the book. Earnshaw considers how it compares to other books published at the same time to place the work and its author in a historical, cultural and religious/spiritual context. Finally, she explores how Nouwen himself was changed by the book and why twenty-three later it continues to touch the hearts and minds of 21st century readers.
- GenresBiography
176 pages, Paperback
Published May 12, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 24, 2020
Summary: An account of the crisis, transformation and subsequent writing process behind Henri Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son.
Many of us have been deeply moved by reading Henri Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son. Nouwen’s reflections on his encounter with Rembrandt’s painting of “The Return of the Prodigal Son” address our loneliness, our “elder son” resentments, our need for forgiveness and to know we are loved. Nouwen invites us not only to be loved, but to love as the Father loves.
Gabrielle Earnshaw explores how Nouwen came to write this wonderful book, the response to it, and how the writing of it changed the last years of Nouwen’s life. Earnshaw is well-qualified for this task she is the founding archivist of the Henri J.M. Nouwen Archives and Research Collection at the University of St. Michael’s College and current Chief Archivist for the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust.
She traces the spiritual struggle of Nouwen to know he was loved that culminated in his collapse in front of a poster of Rembrandt’s painting and the series of life altering experiences that followed this initial encounter–the end of his work at Harvard, the extended meditation on the original painting in St. Petersburg, his call to L’Arche Daybreak, his strained relationship with Nathan Ball, breakdown, and recovery at the Homes for Growth.
It was during this time that he began to write about the painting and shared his writing with Sue Mosteller. Mosteller had invited him to L’Arche and stayed connected with him during his recovery. She affirmed the significance of claiming his sonship, but also challenged him to a further step that would prove transforming.
…I ask myself if the real call for you is the call to become the Father. Once the sons have made their unique passages are they not then ready to become like the Father, to become the Father? And truly Henri, aren’t you right there? Is that what this passage is all about? Isn’t this why you chose to come to Daybreak in the first place; because in your life journey you were more ready to be the Father and you knew somewhere in yourself that it was time to “put away the things of the son”?
With Mosteller’s help and wise counsel, he effects a reconciliation with Ball, with whom he shares leadership of L’Arche Daybreak. Earnshaw traces the difference in Nouwen after his return. She also recounts the writing process, work with Doubleday, his publisher, and the response to his book. It received little critical notice, despite pleas that his work was much like that of Madeleine L’Engle, reviewed in the New York Times. Sales grew slowly and steadily, fueled not by critical reception, but by word of mouth from readers. A paperback version further expanded circulation. Earnshaw even sets the book in the zeitgeist of the 1990’s.
Nouwen would live four more years after publication of Prodigal. He truly became father to the L’Arche community, not completely freed from his struggles, but growing into the father role. This was his most productive time of writing. His lifelong struggle with his sexuality continued, but his growing comfort as father allowed him the freedom to play a clown, and to care for the core members of the community. In his last years he became taken with the combination of freedom and safety in the trapeze act of the Flying Rodleighs. He even worked with them, but never had the chance to form his experiences into writing before his death from a heart attack in 1996.
Earnshaw writes both with scholarly care and deep insight into Nouwen’s journey of writing this book. One ordinarily would not think of an account of how a book was written as spiritually edifying. This was different because Earnshaw helps us enter into Nouwen’s journey with Rembrandt’s painting. She captures the “wounded healer” Nouwen, one who answered the vocation to become a father, even as he wrestled to believe in his belovedness. She traces the transforming process in his life, and the blessing he offered to the members of his community and thousands of readers. Reading this book not only points us to a classic. It points us to the Father whose hands rest in the prodigal’s shoulders and invites the elder son to share his joy.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Many of us have been deeply moved by reading Henri Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son. Nouwen’s reflections on his encounter with Rembrandt’s painting of “The Return of the Prodigal Son” address our loneliness, our “elder son” resentments, our need for forgiveness and to know we are loved. Nouwen invites us not only to be loved, but to love as the Father loves.
Gabrielle Earnshaw explores how Nouwen came to write this wonderful book, the response to it, and how the writing of it changed the last years of Nouwen’s life. Earnshaw is well-qualified for this task she is the founding archivist of the Henri J.M. Nouwen Archives and Research Collection at the University of St. Michael’s College and current Chief Archivist for the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust.
She traces the spiritual struggle of Nouwen to know he was loved that culminated in his collapse in front of a poster of Rembrandt’s painting and the series of life altering experiences that followed this initial encounter–the end of his work at Harvard, the extended meditation on the original painting in St. Petersburg, his call to L’Arche Daybreak, his strained relationship with Nathan Ball, breakdown, and recovery at the Homes for Growth.
It was during this time that he began to write about the painting and shared his writing with Sue Mosteller. Mosteller had invited him to L’Arche and stayed connected with him during his recovery. She affirmed the significance of claiming his sonship, but also challenged him to a further step that would prove transforming.
…I ask myself if the real call for you is the call to become the Father. Once the sons have made their unique passages are they not then ready to become like the Father, to become the Father? And truly Henri, aren’t you right there? Is that what this passage is all about? Isn’t this why you chose to come to Daybreak in the first place; because in your life journey you were more ready to be the Father and you knew somewhere in yourself that it was time to “put away the things of the son”?
With Mosteller’s help and wise counsel, he effects a reconciliation with Ball, with whom he shares leadership of L’Arche Daybreak. Earnshaw traces the difference in Nouwen after his return. She also recounts the writing process, work with Doubleday, his publisher, and the response to his book. It received little critical notice, despite pleas that his work was much like that of Madeleine L’Engle, reviewed in the New York Times. Sales grew slowly and steadily, fueled not by critical reception, but by word of mouth from readers. A paperback version further expanded circulation. Earnshaw even sets the book in the zeitgeist of the 1990’s.
Nouwen would live four more years after publication of Prodigal. He truly became father to the L’Arche community, not completely freed from his struggles, but growing into the father role. This was his most productive time of writing. His lifelong struggle with his sexuality continued, but his growing comfort as father allowed him the freedom to play a clown, and to care for the core members of the community. In his last years he became taken with the combination of freedom and safety in the trapeze act of the Flying Rodleighs. He even worked with them, but never had the chance to form his experiences into writing before his death from a heart attack in 1996.
Earnshaw writes both with scholarly care and deep insight into Nouwen’s journey of writing this book. One ordinarily would not think of an account of how a book was written as spiritually edifying. This was different because Earnshaw helps us enter into Nouwen’s journey with Rembrandt’s painting. She captures the “wounded healer” Nouwen, one who answered the vocation to become a father, even as he wrestled to believe in his belovedness. She traces the transforming process in his life, and the blessing he offered to the members of his community and thousands of readers. Reading this book not only points us to a classic. It points us to the Father whose hands rest in the prodigal’s shoulders and invites the elder son to share his joy.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
May 13, 2020
When The Return of the Prodigal Son was published in 1992, Henri Nouwen wrote, “I am confident that this is my best book and that it can speak deeply to people at this time.” Nearly thirty-years later and after selling over one-million copies, that has proven to be the case. In her new book Henri Nouwen and The Return of the Prodigal Son: The Making of a Spiritual Classic, Nouwen archivist, editor, and scholar Gabrielle Earnshaw expertly and insightfully explores and illuminates the interweaved stories of Nouwen’s spiritual journey and how the book came to be published nine-years after he first saw a poster of Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son in 1983.
Gabrielle adds depth, color, and substantial new detail to what Nouwen himself has written about how his spiritual masterpiece came to be. Her meticulously researched book includes many never-before published letters between Nouwen and people who accompanied him on his spiritual journey. Earnshaw’s book makes several important contributions to our understanding of why The Return of the Prodigal Son was life-changing for Nouwen and so many of his readers by 1) providing a comprehensive “biography” of this classic spiritual book, and (2) presenting a revealing and sensitive biographical sketch of Henri Nouwen, the person Ron Rolheiser calls perhaps the most widely-read and most-influential among all contemporary authors in spirituality.
For Henri Nouwen, the Rembrandt painting was, according to Earnshaw, “. . . a ‘large gate” for him to meet the God of mercy and compassion.” She then observes, “The book is for us what the painting was for Nouwen.” Earnshaw walks us into Nouwen’s world and allows us to see and begin to experience Henri’s loneliness, anguish, and writing process. Gabrielle begins with Nouwen’s first encounter with Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son and considers why it made an immediate and significant impression on him. She probes how Henri’s refined ability to enter into a piece of art through the practice of visio divina or “divine seeing” empowered him to place himself into Rembrandt’s painting—first as an observer and then as each of the main characters. Henri’s artistic vision was complemented and enhanced by his doctoral studies in psychology where he mastered the approach pioneered by Anton Boisen to see a person as a “living human document” where our life experiences are written. Henri’s profound insights about Rembrandt’s painting and his own journey result from his “divine seeing” of the “living human documents” that he encountered by gazing at Rembrandt’s masterpiece. Our ability to share Henri’s experience through his book is what makes it a spiritual classic.
In the longest chapter, Gabrielle establishes that the writing of The Return of the Prodigal Son cannot be separated from the life-changes, emotional and physical trauma and struggles, and painful and affirming personal relationships that occurred over the book’s nine-year gestation. As Henri himself writes in the Prologue of his book, “These years at (L’Arche) Daybreak have not been easy. There has been much inner struggle, and there has been mental, emotional, and spiritual pain. . . However, during my time here at Daybreak, I have been led to an inner place where I had not been before. It is the place within me where God has chosen to dwell.” Rembrandt’s painting accompanied Henri on his journey. Gabrielle provides an in-depth look into Henri’s life and writing process during these crucible years, including his struggles and recovery, and the crucial role played by Sr. Sue Mosteller, CSJ — a close friend of Nouwen’s and a distinguished leader of L’Arche who was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2019. Highlighting this chapter are several never-before published letters between Henri and Sr. Sue illuminating her influence on Henri's life and the resulting book. In the next two chapters Gabrielle reviews the immediate and longer-term response to the book and she recounts the important events in Henri’s life in the four years from the book’s publication until his untimely death of a heart attack in 1996.
Earnshaw reminds us in her concluding chapter that both Henri Nouwen and his fellow Dutchman Rembrandt completed their masterful reflections on the Prodigal Son a few short years before they died at age 64 and 63 respectively. She perceptively writes, “The power of both works derives from their creators’ difficult lives of struggle, as well as their artistic maturity. The painting and the book are spiritual testaments to hard-won wisdom. . . Both Nouwen and Rembrandt caught a glimpse of loving, extravagant, forgiving God and used their witness to give us an image of the ineffable that consoles and heals.”
Gabrielle could be speaking for readers like me when she writes, “This is a book that readers find when they need it—usually when they are on their knees. It is also one of those rare books that reveals something new with each reading.” I found Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son for sale outside the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore in June 2004 when I was there on business at a time when I was living as the younger son and I desperately needed it. On the flight home Nouwen’s words spoke directly to my heart it was life-changing. Since then I’ve read the book numerous times, including three times in a Henri Nouwen Society online book discussion group, most recently during Lent 2020. That's when I finally began to grasp Henri’s insight, “Becoming the compassionate father is the ultimate goal of the spiritual life.”
Looking at my life over the past 16 years, Henri Nouwen has been my spiritual companion and The Return of the Prodigal Son an important touchstone. Gabrielle Earnshaw’s excellent new book deepens my understanding and strengthens my appreciation of the life of Henri Nouwen and the power and beauty of his most important book. I highly recommend Henri Nouwen & The Return of the Prodigal Son: The Making of a Spiritual Classic by Gabrielle Earnshaw.
Gabrielle adds depth, color, and substantial new detail to what Nouwen himself has written about how his spiritual masterpiece came to be. Her meticulously researched book includes many never-before published letters between Nouwen and people who accompanied him on his spiritual journey. Earnshaw’s book makes several important contributions to our understanding of why The Return of the Prodigal Son was life-changing for Nouwen and so many of his readers by 1) providing a comprehensive “biography” of this classic spiritual book, and (2) presenting a revealing and sensitive biographical sketch of Henri Nouwen, the person Ron Rolheiser calls perhaps the most widely-read and most-influential among all contemporary authors in spirituality.
For Henri Nouwen, the Rembrandt painting was, according to Earnshaw, “. . . a ‘large gate” for him to meet the God of mercy and compassion.” She then observes, “The book is for us what the painting was for Nouwen.” Earnshaw walks us into Nouwen’s world and allows us to see and begin to experience Henri’s loneliness, anguish, and writing process. Gabrielle begins with Nouwen’s first encounter with Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son and considers why it made an immediate and significant impression on him. She probes how Henri’s refined ability to enter into a piece of art through the practice of visio divina or “divine seeing” empowered him to place himself into Rembrandt’s painting—first as an observer and then as each of the main characters. Henri’s artistic vision was complemented and enhanced by his doctoral studies in psychology where he mastered the approach pioneered by Anton Boisen to see a person as a “living human document” where our life experiences are written. Henri’s profound insights about Rembrandt’s painting and his own journey result from his “divine seeing” of the “living human documents” that he encountered by gazing at Rembrandt’s masterpiece. Our ability to share Henri’s experience through his book is what makes it a spiritual classic.
In the longest chapter, Gabrielle establishes that the writing of The Return of the Prodigal Son cannot be separated from the life-changes, emotional and physical trauma and struggles, and painful and affirming personal relationships that occurred over the book’s nine-year gestation. As Henri himself writes in the Prologue of his book, “These years at (L’Arche) Daybreak have not been easy. There has been much inner struggle, and there has been mental, emotional, and spiritual pain. . . However, during my time here at Daybreak, I have been led to an inner place where I had not been before. It is the place within me where God has chosen to dwell.” Rembrandt’s painting accompanied Henri on his journey. Gabrielle provides an in-depth look into Henri’s life and writing process during these crucible years, including his struggles and recovery, and the crucial role played by Sr. Sue Mosteller, CSJ — a close friend of Nouwen’s and a distinguished leader of L’Arche who was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2019. Highlighting this chapter are several never-before published letters between Henri and Sr. Sue illuminating her influence on Henri's life and the resulting book. In the next two chapters Gabrielle reviews the immediate and longer-term response to the book and she recounts the important events in Henri’s life in the four years from the book’s publication until his untimely death of a heart attack in 1996.
Earnshaw reminds us in her concluding chapter that both Henri Nouwen and his fellow Dutchman Rembrandt completed their masterful reflections on the Prodigal Son a few short years before they died at age 64 and 63 respectively. She perceptively writes, “The power of both works derives from their creators’ difficult lives of struggle, as well as their artistic maturity. The painting and the book are spiritual testaments to hard-won wisdom. . . Both Nouwen and Rembrandt caught a glimpse of loving, extravagant, forgiving God and used their witness to give us an image of the ineffable that consoles and heals.”
Gabrielle could be speaking for readers like me when she writes, “This is a book that readers find when they need it—usually when they are on their knees. It is also one of those rare books that reveals something new with each reading.” I found Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son for sale outside the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Singapore in June 2004 when I was there on business at a time when I was living as the younger son and I desperately needed it. On the flight home Nouwen’s words spoke directly to my heart it was life-changing. Since then I’ve read the book numerous times, including three times in a Henri Nouwen Society online book discussion group, most recently during Lent 2020. That's when I finally began to grasp Henri’s insight, “Becoming the compassionate father is the ultimate goal of the spiritual life.”
Looking at my life over the past 16 years, Henri Nouwen has been my spiritual companion and The Return of the Prodigal Son an important touchstone. Gabrielle Earnshaw’s excellent new book deepens my understanding and strengthens my appreciation of the life of Henri Nouwen and the power and beauty of his most important book. I highly recommend Henri Nouwen & The Return of the Prodigal Son: The Making of a Spiritual Classic by Gabrielle Earnshaw.
December 11, 2020
Many times over the years a friend has tried to give me or loan me a copy of "The Return of the Prodigal Son." For some reason or other I would let a copy sit on an end table by the sofa or on the shelf by the bed and just not feel like I was ready to open it. So, when Paraclete Publishers announced this month that this particular book about the author and the making of this classic was under discussion, I felt a strong pull to read it. Thankfully after knowing Nouwen's unique relationship with Rembrandt's painting of the same name, and the very personal story of his life, struggles, and choices in his life's ministry through biography, letters, and reviews, I now have a deep spiritual longing to read "The Return of the Prodigal Son." Earnshaw's very well written text on 'the making of a spiritual classic' has readied me to read a book at the right time in my life.
January 15, 2021
This is part biography, part literary review, part analytical insight into the making of a bestselling book. An especially wonderful book that is perhaps Nouwen's most loved.
Earnshaw uses extensive research into his letters, first hand correspondence with key people in Nouwen's life over the writing of the book and the impact the book had on her as a reader and admirer of the man.
It was a fascinating read with great insights into Nouwen's state of mind, the initial response by critics and readers together with her own assessment as to its enduring legacy.
I read 'The Return of the Prodigal Son' in parallel with this book and it provided even greater depth to the reading of the former.
If Nouwen's book is a favourite, I'd encourage you to read Earnshaw's book as it will provide even greater clarity and insight making you appreciate 'The Prodigal Son' even more.
Earnshaw uses extensive research into his letters, first hand correspondence with key people in Nouwen's life over the writing of the book and the impact the book had on her as a reader and admirer of the man.
It was a fascinating read with great insights into Nouwen's state of mind, the initial response by critics and readers together with her own assessment as to its enduring legacy.
I read 'The Return of the Prodigal Son' in parallel with this book and it provided even greater depth to the reading of the former.
If Nouwen's book is a favourite, I'd encourage you to read Earnshaw's book as it will provide even greater clarity and insight making you appreciate 'The Prodigal Son' even more.
June 23, 2020
Twenty years ago, I read The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. Since then, I have revisited it many times; and, it remains in my top five favorite books. I even have a copy of Rembrandt's painting in my home because of its transformative and healing power.
Gabrielle Earnshaw has done a wonderful job with this retelling of Nouwen's spiritual adventure and how/why he decided to write the classic. She is a true Nouwen expert serving as the Chief Archivist for the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust. I would suggest you first read The Return of the Prodigal Son, and follow it with this. Most important, see where you fit in the narrative, and let it transform you.
Gabrielle Earnshaw has done a wonderful job with this retelling of Nouwen's spiritual adventure and how/why he decided to write the classic. She is a true Nouwen expert serving as the Chief Archivist for the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust. I would suggest you first read The Return of the Prodigal Son, and follow it with this. Most important, see where you fit in the narrative, and let it transform you.
June 23, 2020
I loved that this book showed me the path of a flawed man that found his home and his passion in living and following the Gospel. It was intriguing the way the painting of "The Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt as well as his time in L'Arche Daybreak community and the people he met on his life's journey created a path for release and continued remembrance of his life's passion. His journey from rejected son to loved son and finally to Father brings him to a human level from which we can all embrace and learn.
July 8, 2020
I read this book right after reading Henri's book, so I felt immersed in the beauty of the work. Earnshaw gives us a gift of a behind the scenes look at how and why Henri wrote the Prodigal book. Earnshaw gives us glimpses of Henri's life that enrich the reading of his classic and make it even more personal.
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