Dove of White Flame: A Historical Novel About Saint Columba aims to enter the sixth-century world of Saint Columba--also known as Colmcille--as vividly as possible while maintaining historical accuracy. It aims to give the reader a taste of sixth-century Ireland and Scotland, known then as Eriu and Alba, with their sights and sounds and smells, and a feel for Saint Columba's character, growth, and inner spirit. The reader will meet his parents, his family, his friends, his teachers, his fellow monks, and his inspirers, as well as his enemies--all of them people who really lived. The reader will follow the saint through miracles, sea voyages, successes and humiliations, confrontations, plague, pirates, angels, a monster, and even the famous "Battle of the Books," and will see something of his great love for nature, for God, for his fellow humans, and for the Psalms of David which were his spiritual daily bread. Apart from a very short prologue, which gives a description of the appearance of the saint in adulthood, the book starts with his mother's pregnancy and ends with his remarkable and beautiful death.
