A God in Need of Help

Nominated for the 2014 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama

It’s 1606 and Europe is at war over God. At the behest of the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, Venice’s four strongest men are charged with transporting a holy painting – Albrecht DÃ¼rer’s The Brotherhood of the Rosary – across the Alps to Prague. In the small Alpine village of Pusterwald, they are set upon by Protestant zealots; their escape is attributed to a miracle.

The strongmen and their captain are summoned to an inquiry, led by the magistrate of Venice and the cardinal archbishop of Milan, to determine whether something divine did indeed occur. Each man’s recounting adds a layer of colour to the canvas.

Through this vividly painted mystery, inspired by true events, Sean Dixon challenges the role of faith at thedawn of the Age of Reason.

AUTHOR

Sean Dixon

Sean Dixon grew up in a family of 12, including his 8 siblings, parents and a grandmother, through several Ontario towns, predisposing him to tell stories about groups of people thrown together in common cause. His debut novel, The Girls Who Saw Everything, was named one of Quill & Quire?s best of the year. His previous books include The Many Revenges of Kip Flynn, The Feathered Cloak, and the plays Orphan Song and the Governor General?s Award-nominated A God In Need of Help. A recent children?s picture book, The Family Tree, was inspired by his experience of creating a family through adoption with his wife, the documentarian Kat Cizek.