Los conversos es la historia de la vida del joven Agustín hasta el momento en que se convierte al cristianismo, tal como la cuenta el narrador, Alipio, amigo y discípulo de Agustín. Éste era en esa época la superestrella de Cartago, como orador, filósofo y personaje público. Brillante y discutidor, pensaba libremente y viví a libremente con una amante a la que estaba apasionadamente apegado. Su madre, Mónica, le predicaba la caridad cristiana, pero Agustín se sentía atraído por las enseñanzas de los maniqueos.

A gem of a historical novel, one which opens wide, picturesque windows onto life in the Roman Empire in the 5th Century. Curiously, if not eerily enough, the view is a mirror to our own time.

The 'windows' the novel provides for us to peer through are the sharply intelligent eyes of Alypius, the young, sensitive friend of Saint Augustine of Hippo. When the story starts, Augustine is far from being a saint but through Alypius' journaling, we follow the struggles of Alypius, Augustine and their close circle of wisdom seekers as they wend their philosophical way through the various religions and schools of thought competing for the minds and souls of the empire and the world. Their journey to Christianity is not merely intellectual however; it is also emotionally exacting, even torturous for both Augustine and his lover, Lucilla and for Saint Monica, whose fear for Augustine's soul is made quite palpable by Rex Warner's deft writing. There's even a cameo by a cantankerous Saint Jerome that had me giggling with delight.

I recommend it highly! ( )