By Ivor Shapiro. Doubleday, New York, 1996.
This intimate work of literary journalism follows a year in the life of a Western New York Catholic church. The Toronto Star‘s book columnist, Philip Marchand, described it as “…a narrative, written in a dispassionate, scrupulously factual and at times dryly humorous tone, that conveys, for all its low-key style, some compelling human drama. Shapiro starts with a certain disadvantage in this respect. There is no villain in the piece, no stark contrast between pleasant and obnoxious individuals. Everyone in this book is trying to become a better human being.
“What God Allows has much of the impact of good realistic fiction, with revealing dialogue, a carefully observed setting, and searching portrayals of human personality. … Some of the conflicts between these individuals seem astonishingly trivial… but most of the conflicts are rooted in deeper controversies that have wracked the church since Vatican II…. ”\