Dorothy L. Sayers: The Holy Mysteries

Dorothy Sayers was the English writer of the classical mystery series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Her novels and stories are filled with humor and insight, well-drawn characters, and challenging puzzles to try to solve. But more than this, Sayers uses her novels to work out her ideas about art and vocation, human relationships, and ethics, and, while it’s never explicit in the books, theology. In this course, we will focus on the three novels that are central to this process of exploration. Our first goal will always be to enjoy the books, but we will also use them to explore Sayers’ ideas and her life. 

Required Readings: Dorothy L. Sayers, Strong Poison, ISBN 978-0062196200; Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night, ISBN 978-0062196538; Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors, ISBN 978-0156658997.

Alden Flanders is a spiritual director, banjo player, Episcopal priest, former parish rector, and private school teacher. He has been reading Dorothy Sayers’s mysteries since his early teens, finding they have more to teach him every time he reads them.