EDITORIAL REVIEW
“A Parable Before Heathens”
by Thomas Steele
5 stars
Thomas Steele's A Parable Before Heathens sweeps the reader into the forgotten corners of time, where the winds of Roanoke Island carry the haunting whispers of the lost colonists, their fates sealed in mystery. Here, where the untamed wilderness meets the raw edges of human ambition, Steele takes his place as a weaver of a narrative both lush and foreboding, echoing through the centuries with the toll of ancient bells. The book—massive in scope, intricate in its turns—invites readers to lose themselves in the labyrinth of history, faith, and the bitter yearning of those who sailed into the unknown.
Through the eyes of Penelope and Alaster, two young souls bound to the dreams of this ill-fated colony, Steele leads us through this mysterious chapter in early American history. Told largely through diary entries and personal notes, the novel unfolds with a dual consciousness that allows the reader to see the twin forces shaping the colony’s fragile fate. Penelope, with her sharp gaze and restless heart, captures the pulse of the new land—the simple rhythm of daily life, the murmur of hopes and fears stirring in the settlers' hearts. She, the observer, is as much a lens as she is a character, guiding us gently into the world of the colony. Her writing shimmers with the quiet beauty of a world unformed, even as she stumbles into shadows darker than any wilderness.
Alaster, the practical counterpart, stands in stark contrast to Penelope's inward gaze. He is the architect of order, the mind that plans, measures, and builds—not merely homes and fortifications, but the fragile structure of hope. His entries delve into the logistics of survival: the land, the people, the way forward. It is in his voice that we hear the cold, clear ring of ambition, ambition set against the backdrop of nature’s indifference, of history’s yawning void. Together, these two young narrators offer a vision of this doomed venture that feels both sweeping and intimate, full of the poignant tremor of lives balanced on the edge of an abyss.
But more than a historical novel, A Parable Before Heathens is an exploration of belief—belief in God, in the impossible dream of a new world, in the very fabric of existence. The novel, particularly in Penelope’s musings, is laced with religious reflections, the Bible’s teachings seeping into the pages like a constant undercurrent of the settlers’ fragile faith. Steele, with careful precision, sketches the tension between the sacred and the profane, between the rational mind and the creeping supernatural forces that make themselves known as the colony falters. There is an otherworldly pulse beneath the surface, a thread of mysticism that binds the settlers to forces beyond their comprehension.
Steele’s prose, luxuriant and brooding, matches the landscape of Roanoke itself—at times overwhelming, often gorgeous, and always thick with meaning. Some readers may find themselves gasping for air, the book’s 131 chapters stretching out before them like an uncharted wilderness. But for those willing to brave the journey, there is a reward in the layers upon layers of intricate detail, the slow build of tension, the final, shattering conclusion that leaves as many questions as it does answers.
A Parable Before Heathens is not for the faint-hearted. It is for those who, like the colonists themselves, are willing to venture into the dark, unsure of what they might find, and prepared for the possibility that some mysteries are never meant to be fully understood.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dark. Lyrical. Modern. Comedic.
Deeply satirical. Apolitical. Sardonic.
Not casual.
Little to no waiting.
AWARD
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