{"id":35914,"date":"2018-04-29T11:48:05","date_gmt":"2018-04-29T17:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=35914"},"modified":"2025-11-12T12:10:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T19:10:32","slug":"only-in-questions-does-grace-unfold-stephen-pecks-gilda-trillim-shepherdess-of-the-rats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/only-in-questions-does-grace-unfold-stephen-pecks-gilda-trillim-shepherdess-of-the-rats\/","title":{"rendered":"“Only in questions does grace unfold”: Stephen Peck’s Gilda Trillim: Shepherdess of the Rats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Steven L. Peck\u2019s\u00a0Gilda Trillim: Shepherdess of the Rats,\u00a0<\/em>winner of the Association for Mormon Letters\u2019 2018 award for novel, is at once whimsical and intensely meditative. It is cosmic in scope, yet profoundly intimate. In other words, it is full of paradox, the kind of paradox that leads the reader to vital epiphanies as they consider the meaning of grace, holiness, and relation.Peck\u2019s second, full-length novel following his debut,\u00a0The Scholar of Moab<\/em>\u00a0(reviewed\u00a0here<\/a>), is a theologically rich text that stretches the reader to acknowledge the limitations of their own biases and self-constructed paradigms. One of the most successful things about the novel is that it is provocative without alienating its reader. This is due, in part, to Peck\u2019s characterization of his protagonist, who anchors the novel. There is no other literary character to compare to Gilda Trillim.\u00a0<\/em>Badminton player, minimalist author, and 20th-century Mormon mystic, Gilda is\u00a0so<\/em>\u00a0idiosyncratic that she leaps off the page and vividly comes to life, tempting the reader to return again and again to Google just to be sure that she is not a real historical figure.<\/p>\n

Gilda\u00a0<\/em>is an unconventional novel that does not follow a progressive linear plot, though it does develop and build upon the themes introduced in its early sections. As the epigraph explains,\u00a0Gilda\u00a0<\/em>is \u201cAn Academic Work Disguised as a Novel Disguised as an Academic Work\u201d (xv). The novel is presented in the form of a master\u2019s thesis by Kattrim G. Mender for the School of Esoteric Literature at the Mervin Peake Online University of the Arts and Sciences. Katt\u2019s thesis is a source biography on Gilda Trillim, \u201cone of Mormon literature\u2019s most important pioneers,\u201d and contains 24 \u201cVignettes\u201d that include excerpts from Gilda\u2019s literary work, letters between Gilda and her close friend Babs, and journal entries.<\/p>\n

Born to a Mormon family in Idaho, Gilda became a world-renowned professional badminton player before turning to writing. Over the years, her style evolves into bare minimalism. Her later \u201cnovels\u201d are series of lists grouped together by the following headings: \u201cObjects,\u201d \u201cAction,\u201d \u201cAttribute,\u201d and \u201cIn the manner of.\u201d Although Gilda\u2019s literary work is quite provocative, Katt\u2019s thesis focuses on her personal life, especially on traumatic events that shape her thinking and her faith, like her experience as a POW during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

While in Vietnam for a USO tour, Gilda\u2019s helicopter is shot down and she is captured by the Viet Cong. This particular vignette is emotionally difficult to read, yet one of the book\u2019s most beautiful sections. Abused and broken\u2014physically, emotionally, and spiritually\u2014Gilda finds herself isolated from the other prisoners and starving to death. It is at this hopeless point that she befriends her unlikely saviors, the rats, who not only save Gilda physically by providing her with food, but also guide her to a higher understanding of love.<\/p>\n

It would seem that her friendship with the rats helps her to comprehend fully the necessity of relation. Two years after her imprisonment in Vietnam, she writes in her journal:<\/p>\n

So it seems like a thing-in-itself is not revealed even to itself, but only in relation to other things. Alone an object or a thing is nothing. A moon in a universe that held only a moon would not be there. It would have no properties until it related to other things, things that, relating, give it size, structure, and all the rest. The moon is revealed by the light of the sun, by the pull of the earth, by the foot that walks and leaves footprints in the dust. And I similarly find myself manifest by the moon and its shine \u2026 Here I stand in relation to an infinity of other objects and an infinity of relationships of objects to one another, which create new objects like the waves created by the moon and ocean which structure and mold other objects and on and on and on.<\/p>\n

This particular excerpt is just one of the many examples of Peck\u2019s brilliance, describing complex ideas with poetic sensibility and simplicity in a way that invites the reader to meditate on his or her own place in the universe.<\/p>\n

This nuanced, yet powerful, approach is especially effective for the presentation of many of Peck\u2019s theological concerns, allowing him to avoid the pitfalls common to any artist of faith: it is rare that a faithful author successfully captures what is most sacred to them without resorting to clich\u00e9 or didacticism. Flannery O\u2019Connor, the great Catholic American author, was acutely aware of this difficulty and successfully found the balance between being Catholic and a writer. She counseled aspiring authors against slipping into the comfort of their own beliefs, making them into figurative blinders. She wrote in her\u00a0Writing Short Stories<\/em>, \u201cYour beliefs will be the light by which you see, but they will not be what you see and they will not be a substitute for seeing.\u201d Peck\u2019s Mormon faith becomes a lens through which he sees, enabling him to create an expansive, rather than limited conception of the Divine.<\/p>\n

In this way, Peck\u2019s theological fiction establishes itself within a rich literary tradition. Like Dante\u2019s\u00a0Divine Comedy<\/em>,\u00a0Gilda<\/em>\u00a0imaginatively transcends finite human experience and presents a vision of the divine that defies expectation. As with Dante the pilgrim, Gilda learns the ultimate and simple truth that God is love, the \u201cLove that moves the sun and the other stars.\u201d She learns this lesson through an exploration of ecology, \u201ca harmony of relationships.\u201d Through understanding the necessity of relation, Gilda learns the necessity of love, the driving force of the universe.<\/p>\n

In the context of contemporary American literature, Peck\u2019s theological conceptualization is in many ways parallel to Marilynne Robinson\u2019s 2004 novel\u00a0Gilead.\u00a0<\/em>Peck, like Robinson, creates the possibility for deep theological reflection.\u00a0Gilda\u00a0<\/em>is the kind of novel for those, according to Peck\u2019s thesis writer, \u201cwho have time not only to read, but to stretch their minds to the distant stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peck may remind LDS readers familiar with contemporary Mormon fiction of Jack Harrell, whose challenging works ask readers to question their biases and assumptions. In a 2014 interview with Laura Austin for\u00a0Mormon Artist,\u00a0<\/em>Harrell revealed his deep interest in the state of Mormon letters, asserting, \u201c[T]here isn\u2019t a lot of good Mormon literature out there. We live far below our potential. Most of what sells in the commercial Mormon bookstore is pablum. Yet we have such an amazing theology, so comprehensive and gracious. It\u2019s also a religion that is not without contradictions and mysteries. Our writers do so little to capitalize on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peck\u2019s novel thoroughly fulfills Harrell\u2019s call for an authentic and theologically engaged Mormon fiction. One way he accomplishes this is by exploring the concept of the Divine Feminine. Gilda\u2019s experience in the POW camp culminates in a vision of Heavenly Mother, who voices one of Mormonism\u2019s key tenets: \u201cAsk, daughter. Only in questions does grace unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n

This particular episode is refreshing, inspiring, and profoundly spiritual without moralizing. And it is emblematic of how Peck explores the mysteries of Mormon theology in a way that is expansive, thought-provoking, and hopeful. Despite the unique, at times bizarre events Gilda experiences,\u00a0Gilda Trillum, Shepherdess of Rats<\/em>\u00a0is relatable and inviting. Readers will come away from this novel with new eyes\u2014an expansive vision to appreciate the beauty of complexities, and a new sense of curiosity to quicken the mind and soul.<\/p>\n

Gilda Trillim: Shepherdess of Rats<\/em>
\n<\/span>Steven L. Peck
\nRoundfire Books<\/a>
\n2017
\n296 pp.
\n$21.95<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steven L. Peck\u2019s\u00a0Gilda Trillim: Shepherdess of the Rats,\u00a0winner of the Association for Mormon Letters\u2019 2018 award for novel, is at once whimsical and intensely meditative. It is cosmic in scope, yet profoundly intimate. In other words, it is full of paradox, the kind of paradox that leads the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1572,"featured_media":36794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2589,35],"tags":[1223],"class_list":["post-35914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews-literary-arts","category-literary-arts","tag-steven-l-peck"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/33776448.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 11:21:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1572"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35914"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98539,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35914\/revisions\/98539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}