Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage? - by Jessica Hooten Wilson (Hardcover)

About the Book

In this work of literary excavation, an award-winning author transcribes, compiles, and organizes a final, unfinished novel by celebrated American fiction writer Flannery O'Connor. This book introduces O'Connor's final work to the public for the first time and imagines themes and directions the novel might have taken.

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today 2025 Award of Merit (Culture, Poetry, and the Arts)

"Wilson does a great service in resurrecting one of O'Connor's lesser-known works."--Publishers Weekly

When celebrated American novelist and short story writer Flannery O'Connor died at the age of thirty-nine in 1964, she left behind an unfinished third novel titled Why Do the Heathen Rage? Scholarly experts uncovered and studied the material, deeming it unpublishable. It stayed that way for more than fifty years.

Until now.

For the past ten-plus years, award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson has explored the 378 pages of typed and handwritten material of the novel--transcribing pages, organizing them into scenes, and compiling everything to provide a glimpse into what O'Connor might have planned to publish.

This book is the result of Hooten Wilson's work. In it, she introduces O'Connor's novel to the public for the first time and imagines themes and directions O'Connor's work might have taken. Including illustrations and an afterword from noted artist Steve Prince (One Fish Studio), the book unveils scenes that are both funny and thought-provoking, ultimately revealing that we have much to learn from what O'Connor left behind.

From the Back Cover

A Literary Excavation of Flannery O'Connor's Unfinished Novel

When celebrated American fiction writer Flannery O'Connor died at the age of thirty-nine in 1964, she left behind an unfinished third novel titled Why Do the Heathen Rage? Scholarly experts uncovered and studied the material, deeming it unpublishable. It stayed that way for more than fifty years.

Until now.

In this work of literary excavation, award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson transcribes, compiles, and organizes O'Connor's unfinished novel, imagining themes and directions her work might have taken. The book includes illustrations and an afterword from noted artist Steve Prince of One Fish Studio.

"What a delight that there's a new Flannery O'Connor manuscript in the world, courtesy of Jessica Hooten Wilson, who has performed a true labor of love here, for which the literary world will be wildly grateful."
--George Saunders, New York Times bestselling author of Man Booker Prize winner Lincoln in the Bardo

"This book is part detective story, part examination of O'Connor in the context of a changing America (especially racially), and part exploration of one of America's great writers in the process of creation."
--Esau McCaulley, Wheaton College; author of How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South

"Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage? is an important read for followers of this influential writer. Rather than complete O'Connor's unfinished novel, Why Do the Heathen Rage?, Hooten Wilson pairs passages from the book with insightful commentary about O'Connor the person and the artist. For fans interested in a complex portrait of O'Connor and the novel she never completed, this work is required reading."
--Nadra Nittle, author of bell hooks' Spiritual Vision and Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision

About the Author

Jessica Hooten Wilson (PhD, Baylor University) is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She is the author or editor of eight books, including Reading for the Love of God, The Scandal of Holiness (winner of a Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit), and Giving the Devil His Due: Demonic Authority in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor and Fyodor Dostoevsky (winner of a 2018 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award). Hooten Wilson speaks around the world on topics as varied as Russian novelists, Catholic thinkers, and Christian ways of reading.