Michael Cawood Green’s latest book explores themes of modernity and spirituality. It is a fictionalised history of the establishment of the Marianhill monastery in Kwa-Zulu Natal and chronicle of the lives of the Trappist monks who established it. In particular, the author focuses on the founder and one-time abbot, Francis Pfanner and his biographer Joseph Cupertino. Father Pfanner is portrayed as a conflicted visionary, struggling with the church, his own beliefs, the monks in his care and ultimately himself.  Cupertino is realised as a self-deprecating reluctant narrator, but driven by his sense of duty to Father Pfanner to faithfully  record the true story, unalloyed by the machinations of Father Pfanner’s detractors in Rome and elsewhere.
The author has clearly done his homework, fleshing out the narrative arc with intricate and fascinating details of life within the labyrinthine intrigues of the Catholic church and the reclusive Trappist sect. Anyone who’s ever strolled through a ruined monastery or abbey will really appreciate the detailed description of the Trappist monks’ daily routine and its incredible rigor and discipline; recognising the small details common to monastic life set down in the structure of their lives and the buildings they lived in.
 
You’d be excused for thinking this might not be the most scintillating fiction in the world, but Cawood Green’s character’s leap to life out of the page.
Not content with a story, through the medium of fiction, Cawood Green asks us pointed questions about religion, belief, politics and race. He is a gentle interlocutor, rarely forcing the reader to confront the issues he seeks to probe head-on while still leaving plenty of food for thought.
For the sake of silence left me feeling enriched and somehow gladdened; the idea that men would be willing to mortify themselves with silence and ascetic living for the salvation of mankind is something to be cherished in this mercenary age.
 
For the sake of silence is published by Umuzi, RRP of R250. You should be able to pick up a copy in Exclusive books or on Kalahari.net. Outside of SA, your best bet would be Amazon, although I’m guessing most good bookstores will be able to supply a copy.