The Black Madonna by Muriel Spark
"The Black Madonna" by Muriel Spark is a novel centered around a unique religious icon, a Black Madonna carved from bog oak, located in the Church of the Sacred Heart in the English town of Whitney Clay. The story follows Lou Parker and her husband Raymond, a seemingly content and childless couple who pride themselves on their refined tastes and active church involvement. Their lives take a turn when they befriend two Jamaican workers, but their enthusiasm for this friendship diminishes as cultural tensions and prejudices surface.
As the Parkers witness the growing reputation of the Black Madonna, known for answering the prayers of penitents, they become intrigued by her purported powers, especially regarding their desire for a child. Lou's prayers yield unexpected results, leading to a complicated twist when she finally becomes pregnant. However, the birth of their daughter reveals darker themes of racial and societal expectations, as the couple grapples with the implications of their prayers and their prejudices. The narrative explores themes of faith, identity, and the complexities of human relationships, ultimately questioning the nature of desire and the consequences of one's wishes.
On this Page
The Black Madonna by Muriel Spark
First published: 1967
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: The 1960's
Locale: Whitney Clay, a fictitious English town
Principal Characters:
Lou Parker , a housewife with no childrenRaymond Parker , her husbandElizabeth , her widowed sisterTina , her friendOxford St. John , andHenry Pierce , two black Jamaicans who befriend the Parkers
The Story
A Madonna figure carved from bog oak is placed in the Church of the Sacred Heart. Its black composition and angular lines make it an object of attention as well as worship in the growing English town of Whitney Clay.
Lou Parker and her husband Raymond are an apparently happily married—though childless—couple who live comfortably in their Whitney Clay apartment. They have cultivated their tastes in an aristocratic manner that they feel sets them apart from their middle-class acquaintances. As Roman Catholics, they are troubled about their lack of offspring, but they are active church members and participate in several guilds and confraternities with fellow members and friends.
Lou prides herself on cultivating aristocratic sensibilities, but the narrator regards her not as snobbish but only "sensible." When Raymond's automobile factory hires some Jamaican workers, the couple befriend two of them, Oxford St. John and Henry Pierce. The Parkers delight in their "equal" friendship with the black men and even take Henry with them on a family vacation to London, where they visit Lou's impoverished widowed sister. Lou, Raymond, and Henry are appalled at the conditions in which Lou's sister and her eight children live. However, when Henry attempts to compare the "slum mentality" of Lou's sister Elizabeth with folks in Jamaica, Lou is offended and insists that no comparisons can be made. After all, Lou thinks to herself, Elizabeth is white. Moreover, Elizabeth is not completely destitute because Lou faithfully sends her sister a pound each week.
Lou's enthusiasm for her friendship with the two Jamaicans soon wanes. Oxford seems too common and Henry too coarse. Meanwhile, the reputation of the Black Madonna in the local church increases. The Parkers learn that penitents who approach the unusual icon have their prayers answered and are granted requests. In particular, childless couples have in some cases been blessed with children. Eventually the Parkers experience the power of the Madonna. After Lou prays to be rid of Oxford, the Jamaican announces his plans to move to Manchester. Lou's prayers for Henry's welfare are also granted. Buoyed by the apparent efficacy of petitions to the Black Madonna, Lou asks Raymond to join her in prayer for a child. After fifteen years of marriage, however, Raymond is no longer anxious for parenthood and suspects that Lou is more interested in testing the Madonna than in gaining a family. Lou wins him over by arguing that God will not give them a child if they are not "meant to have one."
Lou's eventual pregnancy attests the effectiveness of the couple's prayers to the Madonna—until their daughter is born. The baby is black, so they reject it. Perhaps, the narrator suggests, it is risky for one to get what she prays for.