Sister Juliette of Mt. Carmel
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Preview #1 (Chapter Eight P.60 & 61) – Sister Juliette of Mt. Carmel
Mother Elaine waited with nervous anticipation at the base of the ladder. Then she heard a voice coming from above. "Come up at once! I need you!" Quickly, she climbed the ladder. A cold mist funneled past her as she reached the top and half emerged onto the chapel roof. An apparition confronted her, and her muffled scream was all but lost in the storm. "Who is it?" she cried, her eyes focused on a figure clawing at the shingles, trapped in the beam of Sister Juliette’s flashlight. "It’s Brother Bartholomew, or what’s left of him." "But look at his face! It’s so pale and contorted!" "He’s sick, Mother, very sick. He may well have pneumonia, and a black widow spider has bitten him. The poison has attacked his nervous system; that’s why his face has that horrible grimace. In another moment he’s going to slide off the roof to his death if we don’t pull him up." "We’ll never reach him." "We’ve got to reach him." Mother Elaine got out onto the roof and took her companion’s hand, while holding onto the hatch-cover’s iron handle. Together they formed a chain, which they hoped was long enough to reach Brother Bartholomew. Slowly and carefully, Sister Juliette shuttled her feet down the icy shingles of the steeply slanted roof. Freezing rain clattered so loudly all around; that she could not hear what the ghastly figure of Brother Bartholomew was trying to say to her. He was close to her now, and she could see the muscles of his face twitching hideously from the effects of the spider venom. He looked like a great black crab in his priestly garb, with his arms and legs spread-eagled on the edge of the roof. Sister Juliette was repulsed. His eyes were two sunken pits. Putrid, infected saliva drooled from the corners of his mouth. He was ugly, terribly ugly, and his ugliness reminded her of her own dazzling beauty, of which she was so proud. His ugliness brought, with a rush, the memories of all the unkind things he had ever said to her. His constant criticism, his contempt, and last of all--his hypocrisy! He would not be permitted to touch her--not so much as the cuff of her sleeve. Sister Juliette withdrew the lifeline that had been just beyond his reach. Her body shivered with cold as she struggled for a better foothold on a section of curling and peeling tiles. "Can you reach him?" asked Mother Elaine, her vision partially blocked. Sister Juliette’s eyes shifted uneasily as her veil snapped in the wind and rain splattered against her face. "He won’t reach for my hand!" she called back. And then--he reached for her hand. Sister Juliette stared at his hideous face and at the hooked fingers that trembled so desperately only inches away. Suddenly his feet slipped. Brother Bartholomew plunged toward the jutting spikes waiting to impale him on the fence below. Sister Juliette lunged. Her hand flailed at the air--but he was gone already. "Oh, my God!" she gasped. The last thing she saw was his wrinkled, water-soaked arm, like an octopus tentacle, slithering over the edge.
Preview #2 (Chapter Eleven P.81-82) – Sister Juliette of Mt. Carmel
Sister Juliette kneeled before Mother Elaine. With the long line of her black veil, and perfectly vertical posture, she made a becoming figure. As she clasped her hands in prayer, the oval of her rosary beads reached to the ground and fanned out like an exquisite, silver and onyx clover on the Chapter Hall floor. Monitoring her voice so that it carried just far enough for the furthest person from her to hear, she began. "I say my culpa for breaking the rule of obedience by failing to finish two of my meals at dinner this past week, for being late for recreation, and for indulging in vanity of the eyes by looking at my reflection in a store window." Then Sister Juliette lay down upon the floor with her head hidden in her arms. "What do you have to say in charity?" asked Mother Elaine. "I proclaim--" Sister Juliette stiffened when she recognized the voice. There was a pause. Again, came the words, "I proclaim my Sister--" The sudden thump of a cane interrupted the proceeding. Sister Marsalla raised a gnarled finger toward the nun in question. "Excuse me, Sister Danielle," she said gently, "but I believe you are a few minutes younger in the religious life than Sister Juliette." "Yes." Sister Danielle was nearly tottering. "Perhaps you have forgotten, because of that very reason, you may not proclaim Sister Juliette in the culpa, or any other member of the community as well." Sister Danielle’s great blue eyes darted anxiously from side to side. "Reverend Mother." All eyes fell on Sister Margaret. "You have the power to waive the rule and permit Sister Danielle to proclaim another member of the community." "On what grounds, Sister?" asked Mother Elaine. "If I may suggest, Mother, knowledge of the imperfection supercedes in importance the rule regarding seniority. Sister Juliette cannot perfect herself in the religious life if she remains ignorant of her faults." "I should have known you were behind this," said Sister Marsalla with a look of disdain. "Sisters, please! There will be no further discussion." Mother Elaine looked at Sister Danielle. "You will proceed, Sister Danielle, and reveal the fault you saw Sister Juliette commit." Sister Danielle’s eyes rolled white, with veins of bloodshot making her appear like some tormented ghost. "I proclaim--I proclaim!"
"Mother--don’t!" cried Sister Juliette. Sister Danielle let out a low moan and swooned like a dying butterfly, her black veil swirling about her. Shouts and gasps filled the Chapter Hall. Sister Sebastian lunged and caught Danielle a moment before her face smashed against the floor.
Preview #3, (Chapter Thirteen P.101 & 102) – Sister Juliette of Mt. Carmel
It was hard distinguishing the white woods from the snow-covered road, but suddenly, Juliette could see the stars peaking at them in the night sky. The clouds raced from the heavens to reveal a bright moon, which helped to illuminate the wilderness landscape. She could see that in an hour’s time they had covered very little ground indeed, but both she and Mother Elaine were too cold and tired to really care. The last snowflakes bit them like fire before vanishing with a gust of wind. A rabbit flew across the road, maybe thirty yards ahead, leaping, bounding, racing with effortless ease over bramble and bush, and then darting through the trees. So swift was its flight, that Juliette marveled she ever saw it at all, camouflaged as it was against a wh
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About the Book
It is 1958 in the Bronx. Sister Juliette, a former Pan American swimming champion, has come to teach at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School and things will never be the same. Beautiful and mysterious, Sister Juliette is held in awe by her students, is a temptation to Brother Bartholomew, and is a source of constant dismay to Monsignor Pallone because of her progressive and controversial teaching methods. The term has hardly begun when Brother Bartholomew is nearly killed on an icy rooftop. Was it an accident or attempted murder? Then a Bible containing a mysteriously marked New Testament passage is discovered in the chapel below the roof. Finally, the words of a dying nun make a cryptic reference to a heretical doctrine that’s been condemned by the church for more than 1,500 years. Are these isolated incidents or a closely linked series of events involving the compelling Sister Juliette, who seems to be at the center of one mystery after another? Before it can be determined whether Sister Juliette is an evil woman or a resourceful heroine, she must first survive a blizzard in the Adirondack wilderness when an ill-fated journey with three other sisters ends in tragedy and death.
About the Author
I was born in 1948 in the Bronx, New York, and attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, which is the setting for my novel, Sister Juliette of Mt. Carmel. After studying film at Lehman College, I became a writing teacher and have taught Film Criticism and Short Story writing. I’ve had film reviews and letters regarding Alien and Curse of Frankenstein published in Cinemafantastique Magazine. I was inspired to write Sister Juliette of Mt. Carmel after seeing the film The Nun’s Story, with Audrey Hepburn. I took courses at St. Joseph’s Seminary Institute of Religious Studies to provide further expertise for the religious content of the novel. I live on Staten Island with my wife Cathy, and sons Marc and Brian.