Crawford Power's The Encounter, first published in 1950, is a novel about spiritual salvation and eternal damnation that moves with the anticipatory pleasures of a thriller. Set in bucolic Maryland and boisterous Philadelphia, it follows the actions of Father Cawder, an overly scrupulous, seemingly cold priest whose meeting with a carnival performer and his sexually charged girlfriend serves as "the encounter" on which the novel pivots.
Power is nearly flawless in his portrayal of Father Cawder, who shows genuine concern for the souls of others but lacks the social graces and the small, human touches that build relationships--a flaw that makes his benign gestures go awry. His benevolent act for Stella, the carnival performer's girlfriend, sets off a string of events that end in calamity. Cawder, who has prided himself throughout the novel as a man of sound judgment and moral discernment, is forced to confront his own failings as he encounters the gulf between the man he perceives himself to be and the man he really is.
The novel's mid-century Catholic milieu will no doubt draw comparisons to Graham Greene and Flannery O'Connor, and it is a testament to Power's abilities that these comparisons are not hyperbole. For all the complex ideas brimming under the surface and its austere protagonist, The Encounter is a fine, readable novel that merits discovery by a new generation of readers. --Donald Powell, freelance writer