“Originally published in 1946, Richard Janney’s novel, Miracle of the Bells, was considered contemporary fiction. Sixty-odd years later, the story can now be considered historical fiction.
The story begins with the arrival of William (White Spats) Dunnigan at the train station of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Dunnigan is overseeing the delivery of the mortal remains of Olga Trotki, a young woman from nearby Coalstown who died much too young in far away Hollywood.
In the first quarter of the book, the tales weaves back and forth between the present time and few years earlier. It explores how Dunnigan and Olga met, and how he fell in love with her.
Dunnigan arrives with five-hundred dollars. That’s what he has to spend to make Olga’s last wishes come true. Olga has recently completed the making of a motion picture, “The Garden of the Soul,” but the producer has refused to release what those who have seen the dailies are calling “the greatest motion picture ever made.”
Dunnigam, a press-agent extraordinaire, put his skills to use. Before he is in Coaltown for a day, Dunnigan arranges to have the bells of St. Michael the Archangel and the other four churches rang continuously for four days. It’s the least he could do. Olga had wanted to have the bells rang when her father, the town drunk, died four years earlier, but she didn’t have the resources that ringing the bell required.
Before Dunnigan is through, there is a series of events that shape this almost five-hundred page novel into a read that will warm any heart. William (White Spats) Dunnigan capitalizes on the bells, a miracle that occurs in the sanctuary of St. Michael’s, crowds that once again return to the small, neglected church, the arrival of major Hollywood stars, and other events that changes the cold, dreary Coaltown.
Miracle of the Bells is out of print now, but if you can buy a used copy or get it at the library, it’s the perfect feel-good book to read during the holiday season.
Review originally appeared at www.armchairinterviews.com
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