Dark the Night, Wild the Sea

by Robert McAfee Brown

A mix of love story, Scottish myth, and church history, this novel poses the question: What happens when we find redemption and then fear we have lost it for all time? Brown is a pastor, theologian, teacher, and author of several best-sellers from WJK.

Genres: Scotland, Fiction

167 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Robert McAfee Brown was a minister in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, a theologian, and an activist.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1943 and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1944. Brown earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1945, and served as a United States Navy chaplain from 1945 to 1946. The recipient of a Fulbright grant, Brown studied at the University of Oxford before completing a doctorate in the philosophy of religion at Columbia University in 1951. He married Sydney Thomson, and had four children.

Initially, Brown taught at his alma mater, Union Theological Seminary, before accepting an appointment as Professor of Religion at Stanford University in 1962. There he became an international leader in civil rights, ecumenical and social justice causes. Brown campaigned against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and was a co-founder of the group "Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam". He was also a Protestant observer at the Second Vatican Council.

Brown left Stanford in 1975 to return to Union as Professor of World Christianity and Ecumenism, but quickly found his new post unfulfilling. He resigned and moved back to the Bay Area, where he taught at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley until his retirement in 1984. Brown was the author of 29 books, and his papers are now held at the Graduate Theological Union. Brown died on 4 September 2001, survived by his wife. A lecture series is named in his honor.

Reviews

[Moira · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story as simple and resonant as myth. For those who thrill to the idea of a love story that transcends time, one set on a windswept Hebridean island, this is an evocative (and unexpectedly morally rigorous) gem.

It’s not for me, though; I can’t enjoy a narrative where every female character, no matter how central, functions solely as a helpmeet and/or love object to the protagonist. But it was lovely to journey via prose to the Isle of Colonsay, a place the author clearly loves as much as I do.

[Marilyn McEntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brown wrote this when he was 78, after decades of eloquent speaking and publishing in theology, preaching, and serving many as an anti-war activist and a man of integrity and conscience. The fact that he was willing to venture into fiction late in life is itself cause for admiration. Moreover, the book is a lovely story--tender, imaginative, spiritually and theologically provocative, with memorable characters and a strong sense of Scottish heritage and local color that make their own appeal to those of us who share that particular connection with the past. A delight to read.

[Sandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it...a beautiful story of love in the Scottish island of Hebrides. From the back cover: "A powerful story of love and redemption...the lilt of the pipes, the call of the Fair Folk, the silkies' lament, and the wash of the waves fill this tender, nostalgic novel. If your heart is in the Hebrides, if you loved Roan Inish, if you believe in love beyond death, this book is for you."

[Kayla Wilcox · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far this is a good book. it's a novel so its kind of boring at first but then if you get reading, it feels like your actually in the islands. Erinsay is the island in the book. The real place is called Oronsay Scotland.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For it's small size this book sure packs a punch. This romance/mystery/self discovery/ time travel novel had me cptivated from the very beginning. It's a quick read but it was a good read and the music on the inside cover is beautiful when it is played.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. Short and sweet with a setting in Ireland. My rating is a bit higher than most because the settings in Ireland just draw me in. Regardless, this is a quick short read into the mythology of Ireland, but written like it could happen to you!

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small, but powerful book. One man's endeavor to "make things right". Very well written.