Tell No Man is the story of a rising young stockbroker involved in a passionate affair with a sexy socialite to whom he’s been married several years.
Service in Korea shook Hank Garvin badly. When a long-time friend commits suicide, Hank’s foundation gives way.
Tell No Man by Adela Rogers St. Johns
Doubleday, 1966. 444 pages. 1966 bestseller #7. My grade: A.
Shortly thereafter, Hank has a Damascus Road experience.
Like Paul, Hank’s ready to chuck everything to follow Jesus, believing he will do the same works Jesus did.
Mellie, Hank’s atheist wife, is ready to chuck Hank if he persists in going into the ministry.
Hank is convinced Mellie will stick with him.
She does, but soon realizes she “didn’t come first with Hank any more. God came first.”
That changes their marriage.
Adela Rogers St. Johns chose Mellie’s godmother, a Bible-reading Catholic and veteran Chicago newspaper reporter, to tell the story. Her credentials give the narration authority: She is well-placed to know, to see, to speak truth.
I rarely find religious novels inspiring. This one is not just inspiring but inspiring in practical ways.
The events that lead up to the story’s climax will be familiar to anyone who’s read religious novels.
The climax, itself, however, is both a logical outgrowth of St. Johns’ plot line — and an absolutely stunning surprise.
© 2016 Linda Gorton Aragoni
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