C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien are two of my favorite authors, and when I read Joel Miller’s essay about fellow Inkling Charles Williams, my curiosity was piqued. His first of seven novels was War In Heaven, and it almost wasn’t published. His 1926 manuscript was rejected, but his secretary found it in a box of papers he had told her to throw away. She sent it to another publisher, who stayed up all night reading it and eventually publishing it.
Thank goodness for Mr. Williams’ secretary! War In Heaven is a fantastic story that, while I didn’t stay up all night reading it, kept me riveted from beginning to end. It has one of the best opening sentences ever: “The telephone bell was ringing wildly, but without result, since there was no-one in the room but the corpse.” What starts out sounding like an Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers whodunit, very quickly veers into supernatural territory. As a matter of fact, the corpse in question doesn’t even return to the story until late in the book.
The story centers on an unassuming Anglican Archdeacon, Julian Davenant, some employees at a small publishing house that specializes in occult titles, and a quartet of spectacularly evil persons. Archdeacon Davenant reminds me a lot of G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown. Everyone around him underestimates him, including the primary villain, Gregory Persimmons, retired owner of the aforementioned publishing house. Davenant’s small country church at the village of Fardles just happens to house the Graal, more familiarly known as The Holy Grail.
The Graal is desired by Persimmons for some literally Satanic purposes, and he thinks he can easily obtain it from the seemingly weak and ignorant Archdeacon. His allies are Sir Giles Tumulty, an expert in antiquities and a thoroughly repellent person; Manasseh, another Satanist, devoted to destruction; and Dmitri Lavrodopoulos, a chemist (pharmacist) and Satanist devoted to the utter negation of all things.
Against these forces of evil are Archdeacon Davenant, Kenneth Mornington, an employee at the publishing house, Lord Ridings, a devout Roman Catholic, and a mysterious stranger who might be the mythical “Prester John”. Together, they battle Persimmons’ attempts to gain control of the Graal.
Williams’ does an excellent job of creating an atmosphere of creepy weirdness. Early in the story, Lavrodopoulos gives Persimmons some ointment that he intends to use to enter a metaphysical realm and connect with other practitioners of black magic.
Slowly, very slowly, he undressed, looking forward to he knew not what, and then — being entirely naked — he took from a table the small greasy box of ointment and opened it. It was a pinkish ointment, very much the colour of the skin, and at first he thought it had no smell. But in a few minutes, as it lay exposed to the air, there arose from it a faint odour which grew stronger, and presently filled the whole room, not overpoweringly, but with a convenient and irresistible assurance. He paused for a moment, inhaling it, and finding in it the promise of some complete decay.
Charles Williams. War in Heaven (Kindle Locations 1032-1036). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.
Gregory Persimmons is a monstrous character, maintaining a façade of polite gentility while sadistically delighting in tormenting innocent people, including his own adult son who now runs the publishing house. Needless to say, the odds of defeating him and his companions in evil do not look good. However, the humble Julian Davenant has hidden reserves of strength. His favorite thing to do is to recite Psalms under his breath:
“Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious; for His mercy endureth for ever.”
“I beg your pardon?” Gregory asked at the same moment that Sir Giles said, “Eh?”
“Nothing, nothing,” the Archdeacon said hastily. “Merely an improvisation. The fine weather, I suppose.”
Charles Williams. War in Heaven (Kindle Locations 1176-1179). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.
There is much pain and loss before the tale is concluded, but the ending is quite beautiful and uplifting. The closest thing to War In Heaven is probably C. S. Lewis’ wonderful novel, That Hideous Strength, where truth, goodness, and beauty overcome a “scientific” think-tank that is trying to promote evil in a bucolic English community.
As I mentioned before, Williams was an Inkling along with Lewis and Tolkien. Unfortunately, he died relatively young in 1945, having published seven novels, some plays, and some poetry. War In Heaven is definitely one of the creepiest and weird books I’ve read – no “cozy mystery” here! I highly recommend it though, and I’m looking forward to reading his other novels. You can get all of his works in electronic form for $2.99 at Delphi Classics. War In Heaven is worth that price alone.
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