The Shattering of Loneliness

The Shattering of Loneliness is an extraordinary book: not too long but richly dense; profound in its insights and scholarship yet eminently readable; and though clearly written by a monk happy to be a monk, it has as much relevance to the ordinary Christian as to the Trappist monks in the author’s care. * Catholic Herald *Intimately personal but never self-indulgent, it is at once arresting and challenging, uplifting and reassuring, and profoundly moving … The richness of this remarkable book is impossible to convey adequately in so few words. No reader will remain unchanged. * Tablet *Absorbing and fascinating … It is a book to be read more than once. * Methodist Recorder *Generates deep and unexpected insights […] Like the memory of a meaningful conversation long after you’ve forgotten what was said. It is unforgettable. * Catholic World Report *The Shattering of Loneliness is a book of extraordinary importance. It is, with prophetic clarity, aware of the depravity, the weakness and the glory of the human condition. * Times Literary Supplement *A work that intelligently renews the vocabulary and the very genre of spiritual literature. * La Croix *This is one of the finest books that I have read in recent years and one which should, in time, become a classic. It acknowledges and articulates the essential contribution of the Christian tradition as inspirer of remembrance for a generation that is beginning to forget. * The Furrow *Varden’s work is the fruit from a tree for the healing of the nations, from a monk who has his feet firmly and incarnationally on the ground. * Lutheran Theological Journal *I’ve read thousands of books. This one has stunned me. – Mary Margaret Funk, spiritual writer and author of ‘The Practice of the Spiritual Life’This wide-reading reviewer hasn’t for ages read such a completely satisfying book […], written in poetic, resonant language. – Bonnie Thurston, New Testament scholar and author

Dom Erik Varden is Abbot of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire. Norwegian by birth, he was, before entering religious life, a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge. He has published several translations and scholarly monographs and is much in demand as a preacher, spiritual director and lecturer.