Walsingham Way: Alfred Hope Patten and the Restoration of the Shrine of Our Lady by Colin Stephenson is the latest book to come out regarding Our Lady of Walsingham and the shrine's restorer, Fr. Alfred Hope Patten. Published first in 1970, this edition by Canterbury Press (UK) became available in February of this year. You can find it available through Amazon and other book retailers on the net. There are some floating around on e-Bay too.From the Publisher: Alfred Hope Patten was a larger than life figure, terrifying to some, but determined to realise his vision of restoring the medieval shrine in the Norfolk countryside that had been closed at the Reformation. Colin Stephenson's account of his ambitious enterprise, his successes and failures (including a failed attempt to establish religious communities of men and women at Walsingham), his penchant for flamboyant clerical dress, his love of the Roman Church but his dislike of Roman Catholics, does not claim to be the last word in historical scholarship, but is a warm, engaging and entertaining account of one the highest achievements of Anglo-Catholicism in the last century and of one of its most colourful and controversial personalities.
About the Author: COLIN STEPHENSON was Guardian of Walsingham from 1958 until his death in 1973. Walsingham Way was first published in 1970, and followed by his autobiography, Merrily On High in 1973.
I have not been able to find any reviews on this book. I'll purchase a copy soon and let you know what I think. Needless to say, most titles regarding OLW have more to do with the devotional nature of the Shrine and less objective historical analysis regarding the motives behind Patten's desire to restore the Shrine and so forth.
