In This Vale of Tears - Sixties Series, #2

MYSTERY, ROMANCE AND THE OCCULT

Virginia Pearson and the beautiful Aine O'Riordan are among a group of young women entering the convent of the Sisters of the Suffering Saviour. Strange happenings torment the sensitive and withdrawn Aine O'Riordan. Virginia tries to comfort her, but the dark, mysterious events force Aine out of the convent. Deeply saddened, she leaves behind her dear friend to deal with the unexplained happenings and an atmosphere of foreboding that seems to infect the life of the convent.

Virginia (later Sister Agnes), suspicious of fellow postulant Margaret McGuigan's (later Sister Catherine) role in the convent's atmosphere, enters into a barely suppressed conflict with her through their religious training to their university course in 1962. The intrusion of Virginia Pearson's resentful former fiancé, senior lecturer Dr Philip Stevenson, into her life as Sister Agnes adds a severe, unexpected problem. She is still in love with him. To worsen her guilt about breaking off the engagement, Philip seems to be in self-destruct mode.

Meanwhile, Aine has been lured into the world of fashion modelling and appears unaware of where personable photographer, Harry, is leading her. She unwittingly plays a connecting role in the deepening conflict and the continuing mysteries that see Virginia and Aine each rushing towards a crisis.

This is a long novel with several subplots, amounting to three novels in one.

The SIXTIES SERIES will consist of eight connected but stand-alone stories. The cultural revolution of the 1960s (1960-1975) and the Second Vatican Council are the social, cultural, and political background. The author who lived through the turmoil of those times recreates its atmosphere. The themes of neo-paganism and Gnosticism are threads through the stories. 

Book 1 Times of Distress
Book 2 In this Vale of Tears
Book 3 Counterculture Dreams
Book 4 The Counterculture Goddess (2025)
Book 5 Love in the Counterculture (2026)
Book 6 Dreams to Nightmare (2027)
Book 7 The Castle of Heavenly Bliss
Book 8 A Sense of Loss 2028