---
title: The Father's Tale is Epic
description: The Father's Tale is Epic
---

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# The Father's Tale is Epic

Nov 30, 2011 3:00:00 PM  |  by [Lisa M. Hendey](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/lisa-m-hendey)

*[![](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/obrien.jpg?width=280&height=410&name=obrien.jpg "obrien")](http://catholicmom.com/2011/11/27/new-on-my-catholic-bookshelf-this-week-%e2%80%94-112711/obrien/)Editor's Note: A new book by one of my favorite authors landed in my inbox last week. [The Father's Tale](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089870815X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=catholicmomcom&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=089870815X) by Michael O'Brien is not the type of book I want to race through, so it's likely I won't be posting a review for quite some time -- but I wanted to share the following press release about the book and recommend it as a wonderful Christmas gift idea for thoughtful readers on your list. LMH*

**The Father’s Tale ‘like a thousand sunrises’**  
** Bestselling Author Michael O’Brien epic being called his best work ever**

**SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 28, 2011** – Canadian bestselling author and iconographer Michael O’Brien has a body of work overflowing with critical acclaim. That fact makes his newest book, *[The Father's Tale](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089870815X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=catholicmomcom&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=089870815X)****,*** even more compelling in light of initial reviews that clearly mark this epic as his best work ever.

“This is a magnum opus in quality as well as quantity,” said Dr. Peter Kreeft of Boston College, author of *You Can Understand the Bible. *“When you finish *[The Father's Tale](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089870815X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=catholicmomcom&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=089870815X)**** ***you will say of it what Tolkein said of *The Lord of the Rings: *‘It has one fault; it is too short.’ A thousand pages of Michael O’Brien is like a thousand sunrises: who’s complaining?”

“Michael O’Brien’s achievement here is, I think, titanic,” said Thomas Howard, author of *Dove Descending: T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. *[The Father's Tale](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089870815X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=catholicmomcom&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=089870815X)** is available now from Ignatius Press.

O’Brien himself calls this work “a modern retelling of the parables of The Good Shepherd and The Prodigal Son.” He has a string of bestselling books to his credit, including *Father Elijah: An Apocalypse; Strangers and Sojourners*;* Eclipse of the Sun*; and several others.

O’Brien is also a highly regarded iconographer whose works have been commissioned by churches and museums. His images include *Jesus Christ the Word of Life*,* St. John Vianney*,* St. Maximillian Kolbe *and *The Finding in the Temple.*

In *[The Father's Tale](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089870815X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=catholicmomcom&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=089870815X)****,*** O’Brien introduces readers to Canadian bookseller Alex Graham, a middle-aged widower whose small-town life had gone smoothly – or so he once believed – until his college-aged son disappears from a British school. Graham leaves his safe, orderly world for the first time and embarks on a perilous journey to search for his son that takes him to Russia and beyond, pulled ever deeper into world conflicts as well as the eternal conflict between good and evil.

“(This is) the best of Michael O’Brien’s novels,” said Ignatius Press Founder and Editor Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J. “He creates characters like Dickens, explores human relationships like Austen, and has the epic scope of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. I believe this novel will merit inclusion in any list of the world’s greatest novels.”

*[Order The Father's Tale and support CatholicMom.com with your purchase](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089870815X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=catholicmomcom&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=089870815X)*

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#### About the Author

![Lisa M. Hendey](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Lisa%20M%20Hendey%202024.png)

### [Lisa M. Hendey](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/lisa-m-hendey)

Lisa M. Hendey is the founder of CatholicMom.com, a bestselling author and an international speaker. A frequent radio and television guest, Hendey travels internationally giving workshops on faith, family, and communications. Visit Lisa at [LisaHendey.com](http://lisahendey.com), on her Substack at [LisaHendey.Substack.com](http://lisahendey.substack.com/), or on social media @LisaHendey for information on her speaking schedule or to invite her to visit your group, parish, school or organization. [Find Lisa’s books on her Amazon author page](https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-M-Hendey/e/B002ZM9FH0).

[**](http://facebook.com/lisamhendey) [**](http://twitter.com/lisahendey)

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