St. Lydwine was bedridden from the age of fifteen, when she broke a rib while ice skating, and endured a lifelong illness that was probably one of the first documented cases of multiple sclerosis. Her body became covered with sores and abscesses and virtually came apart into three pieces—symbolically representing the condition of the Church. She ate no food except Holy Communion and experienced many mystical phenomena. An incredible story of one of the most heroic victim souls in the history of the Church. Imprimatur. 252 pgs, PB

Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans, whose pseudonym was J. K. Husymans, was born in 1848 at Paris, France. After suffering as a youth in the French Ministry, he subsequently began writing works of prose poetry, the first of which was published in 1874. He went on to author full-length novels which illustrated his remarkable witty and satirical writing style, Against Nature being his most well-known. His other works include En Rade, Saint Lydwine of Schiedam, and L Oblat. J. K. Huysmans died in 1907 at Paris