Street of the Seven Angels Author:John Howard Griffin The posthumous publication of John Howard Griffin’s long-missing third novel, Street of the Seven Angels is an important event. In Street of the Seven Angels, six pietistic women form The Society for the Preservation of Christian Morality Against Contemporary Indecency. They carry on their work, despite the efforts of their spiritual guide, the ... more »parish priest Father Trissotin, who scribbles religious tracts and advises them to tone it down a bit. They "behave with absolute missionary zeal," Griffin explained, "and through their actions demonstrate the absurdity of the censoring ‘watchdog’ mentality, particularly when it is exercised with such moral obtuseness." Drafted in 1955 -- during a decade of blindness -- Street is a finely-crafted novel wherein "every scene has its answering scene," Griffin explained. By alternating jubilant scenes with somber ones, it maintains a Mozartean balance of phrase and response. "In fact," he added, "I played Mozart continually during the writing and rewriting of this novel, and anywhere the tone of the work did not coincide with the tone of the music, I changed the work."« less