COMMENDABLESnFacing the Mystery of FaithnBrian Moore: Cold Heaven;nHolt, Rinehart & Winston; New York.nby Carson DalynThat the supernatural is alivenand well is the animating principlenof Brian Moore’s tour denforce Cold Heaven He makes nonattempt to rob this idea of itsnforce by invoking the mantic artsnor the favorite occult ploys of thenhorror movie (ESP, poltergeists,nwerewolves), nor does he usenthe supernatural like an exoticnliterary spice to enliven a detectivenstory, to season a gothicnromance, to enhance the terrornquotient of a horror story, or tonadd a little je ne sais quoi to anfictionalized case study of dementia.nMoore’s approach suggestsnthat the supernatural cannand does invade the most secularnlives absolutely unbidden. InnCold Heaven the supernaturalnputs on a no-holds-barred, fulldressnperformance of stunningnmagnitude: Marie Davenport—nactively hostile to religion,nCatholicism especially—is accostednby a vision of the VirginnMary and plagued by recurrentndreams of the vision in which thenVirgin asks Marie to build anshrine to her in Carmel, California,nwhere the vision occurs.nMoore does not treat this vision,nas most modem novelists would,nas a ghost, an hallucination, anhoax, or as a psychoanalyticnsymptom to be cured. Hisncharacter takes the apparitionnseriously, although the heroinenDr. Daly is with the Englishndepartment at the University ofnNotreDame.nwould prefer madness fo beliefnin such an unsettling reality.nHer struggle not to believenand not to obey the requestnmade in the vision generatesntension that is greatly augmentednby the feet that “the other side”nseems to be arranging spectacularndisplays of its uncanny power.nAmong the most perplexing andnfrightening of these are thenevents that occur in the Davenports’nlives exactly one year afternthe vision. Key is the apparentndeath and subsequent disappearancenof Marie’s husband.nThe remainder of ColdnHeaven deals with Marie’s attemptnto find out whether hernhusband is alive or dead, tondiscover where he is, ifhe is alive,nand to understand the relationshipnbetween his death andnseeming resurrection and thenvision at Carmel. From the beginningnof the story, “when shenremembered as though a bellntolled a knell, that today was thenanniversary of Carmel,” until thenend when she finally decides “Nonguns were trained fiom on high,nready to shoot her down,” ColdnHeaven describes her attempt toncome to grips with the supernaturalnand with its role in hernlife.nCold Heaven probably derivesnnnits greatest aesthetic impact fi-omna disarmingly simple feet: it treatsnthe supernatural seriously and, asna result, taps some of the uncannynpower, and profunditynattached to it. The doll-likenMadonna in the chapel with thenbutton eyes; the earthquakenwhich breaks items in the conventngiftshop; the priest clad innpurple and green Izod golfingnclothes; and even a fet jogger’snunsolicited advice are all madenmore significant not only becausenthey may offer Marie a cluento the way out of her predicament,nbut also because they maynsymbolize the divine will.nAlthough current wisdomndictates that religion detractsnfi-om the inherent interest of annobject, setting, or character, innCold Heaven the reverse is true.nThe more that an individual ornobject seems associated with thenholy, the more fascinating he,nshe, or it becomes. Marie, fornexample, would be quite boringnif she had not had her vision. Hernhusband would be just anothernworkaholic pathologist if henwere not involved in his wife’snsupernatural story.nIn instinctively shying awaynfi-om the aspects of his story thatnthe typical best-seller wouldnhave emphasized, Moore seemsnto have realized that holiness isnfer more fescinating than evil. Hendoes not, for instance, concentratenon the Davenports’ maritalnwoes; explicitly describe annafifeir Marie was having; dissectnthe decay of her lover’s marri^e;ncapitalize on the power andnprestige of the husband’s job as anpathologist working on topsecretnprojects; or exploit thengory details of his accidentalndeath. The aesthetic success ofnthis welcome departure fi-om thenusual formula of the successfulnnovel proves Moore’s instinctncorrect. Marital infidelity, illicitnaffairs, power, prestige, andnegotism pale in comparison withnthe interest and suspense generatednby Marie’s vision. In ColdnHeaven almost no one can benseriously interested in any ofnthese other things.nEven passing allusions tonothers who have had visions ofnthe Virgin Mary become interestingnto the reader: none more sonthan that of Alphonse Toby denRatisbonne, about whom anyoung priest tells Marie whennshe angrily asks him why she hasnbeen picked to see this vision. “‘Incan’t find any case where thisnVirgin appeared to someone likenme,'” she argues. “‘Isn’t thatntrue?'” But he replies:n’Sorry, no, that’s not right.nThere was a man called AlphonsenToby Ratisbonne, inn1842. He wasn’t abeliever. Inn6ict, he was an Alsatian Jewn… a relative of thenRothschilds, as a matter ofn&ct… Ratisbonne went intonthe Church of St. Andreandelle Frate in Rome, purely tonadmire the architecture, butnwhen he was inside thenchurch he had a vision of thenVirgin. And although he was anJew and an unbeliever, henwas completely convinced.nHe converted at once tonCatholicism, became a monk,nand when he died he was thenhead of a religious order.’nPredictably, Marie replies.n” ‘But what if he hadn’t beennconvinced? Aren’t there anyncases like that?'” The priest’snresponse, ‘”if the cases weren’tnreported, how would we knownabout them,'” suggests the enntrancing possibility that suchnappearances may be rather comnmon, but what may be uncomnmon is the response of peoplenApril 198n