Godric was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1981. It is a novel of only 175 pages which, despite its compressed form, manages to elaborate strikingly on the themes of life and faith Buechner has expressed throughout his writing career. The novel is a fictional interpretation of the life of an Anglo-Saxon merchant who later became a hermit. Such was the historical Godric's reputation for holiness that he was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Although Buechner includes a historical note on the real St. Godric at the end of the novel, the biographical date and spiritual life of the actual Godric have been freely interpreted and embellished by Buechner's creative imagination.

The novel purports to be the autobiography of a hermit of the Middle Ages named Godric. After retiring to a forest hermitage, Godric's reputation as a holy man attracts even the notice of...