Brideshead Revisited
Recommended. Age: 18+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Waugh wrote this novel to show God's grace pulling sinners home. Lord Marchmain's deathbed and Julia's choice of God over her lover are among the finest Catholic pages in English. The reservation is real. The first half rests on a romantic attachment between two young men, and later Charles and Julia commit adultery. The book names both as grave sin and shows what they cost. For adults only.
For parents
Adults only, and not for reading aloud. If an older teen meets it in school, name two things. The book itself calls the Oxford attachment grave sin. Julia gives up Charles because marriage is permanent. Ask why Lord Marchmain's deathbed return to the faith moves Charles. Ask what Julia loses and what she gains.