Edge of Honor by Gilbert Morris

First published: Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2000

Genre(s): Novel

Subgenre(s): Historical fiction (nineteenth century); romance; saga

Core issue(s): Compassion; healing; love; responsibility; service; truth

Principal characters

• Quentin Laribee, a physician
• Hannah Laribee, Quentin’s sister
• Irene Chambers, Quentin’s fiancé
• Les Simmons, Quentin’s rival
• William Breckenridge, the soldier Quentin shoots
• Eden Breckenridge, William’s widow
• Thomas York, Eden’s father

Overview

In Gilbert Morris’s Edge of Honor, the protagonist, Quentin Laribee, a physician in his late twenties, practices surgery in New York City during the 1860’s. Quentin’s peers admire his medical skills. Colleague Les Simmons envies Quentin’s personal life and complains to friends that Quentin is unworthy of being engaged to Irene Chambers, whose father, Dr. Oscar Chambers, has designated Quentin as his successor to his flourishing New York City practice.

Quentin lives with his younger sister, Hannah, who is permanently lame because of an injury. After their parents died when they were teenagers, Quentin and Hannah raised their younger siblings. Because they endured many struggles and deprivations together, Quentin and Hannah loyally nurture each other. A pious woman, Hannah frequently reads her Bible and consults the Reverend Horace Pettigrew for spiritual advice. She dislikes Quentin’s fiancé, whom she considers a frivolous, manipulative woman who does not love Quentin but craves the affluent lifestyle and societal position he will assure her.

Unimpressed by wealth, Quentin does not comprehend why Irene wants him to wear fancier clothes, buy an expensive house, and dine with the elite of New York City. He prefers to devote his time to helping people who need medical assistance regardless of their financial status. Conscientious regarding his profession, Quentin dislikes other physicians’ aloofness to their patients, incompetence, and greed.

Quentin enlists in the Seventh New York Infantry during the American Civil War. Assigned to hospital duties, he befriends orderly Jim Peters, a former cook who tells Quentin about his plan to earn money raising pheasants and rabbits to sell to steamboat companies after the war. Quentin confides to Hannah that he believes God helps him, relating how he prayed during a soldier’s surgery, saving the man from an injury that other surgeons thought would be mortal.

After leaving the safety of New York for Fort Stedman at Richmond, Virginia, Quentin finds himself in the midst of combat when enemy troops attack. Half-blinded by dirt raised by an exploding shell, Quentin sees a Confederate soldier approaching and fatally shoots him, not realizing the man is surrendering. After he learns that the dead soldier’s name is William Breckenridge, Quentin arranges for his proper burial, believing that is the honorable thing to do. He keeps the man’s wallet and a letter from his wife, Eden.

Back in New York City, Quentin suffers overwhelming guilt about his role in William’s death and thinks about the soldier’s widow and children. He confides his turmoil about killing William to Hannah, who urges him to talk to the Reverend Pettigrew. Quentin’s agitation intensifies when he reads Eden’s letter, which reveals that she cannot pay the mortgage on the family farm. After talking to Pettigrew to discuss how he can compensate William’s survivors, Quentin prays and asks for God’s help. He experiences an epiphany that he should travel to Helena, Arkansas, where the Breckenridge family lives.

Arriving in Arkansas by riverboat, Quentin locates the Breckenridge farm, where he meets Eden; her father, Thomas York; and her three children, Prudence, Johnny, and Stuart. He tells Eden that a Virginia farmer asked him to tell her that her husband had been killed in battle and was buried on his farm. Quentin does not reveal personal information about himself or admit his responsibility for William’s death. After succumbing to illness, Quentin stays in the Breckenridges’ barn where Granny Spears, a healing woman, nurses him.

During Quentin’s recovery, the Breckenridge family accepts his offer to assist them with chores. He helps the family build pens and secure stock to raise high-quality food for steamboats, taking his cue from the postwar plans of his wartime comrade, Jim Peters. The family enjoys success at its new livelihood. Meanwhile, Quentin attends church and becomes acquainted with people in the community, including Riley Greer, a neighbor who pressures Eden to marry him despite her lack of interest, intimidating her with threats that she will lose her farm without him.

Unhappy alone in New York, Irene travels to Helena, where she meets Eden and reveals that Quentin is her fiancé and a physician. Assured the Breckenridge family will thrive, Quentin resumes his romance with Irene. In New York, professional obligations and Irene’s social expectations exhaust and bore Quentin, and he reminiscences about Arkansas. Les Simmons warns Quentin that his marriage to Irene will fail because of their social incompatibility.

A letter from Prudence alerts Quentin to a strange illness Eden is suffering and asks him to save her. Because Eden’s stomach is enlarged, gossips declare that she is pregnant. Although Irene does not want him to go and tells him their engagement is off if he leaves, Quentin, accompanied by Hannah, chooses to return to Arkansas to help Eden. He surgically removes a tumor from Eden’s abdomen. He then opens a medical office in Helena, offering free services.

Eden’s father is aware that her marriage to William was unhappy, and he encourages her to consider Quentin as a potential husband. Freed from his obligations to Irene, Quentin realizes he can honorably express the romantic love he had been secretly feeling for Eden. She forgives Quentin when he reveals the truth about her husband’s death. Love prevails for both Quentin and Hannah, who find their true homes and partners. Quentin acknowledges that his faith in God has healed his spirit and revealed his innate purpose.

Christian Themes

Morris’s Edge of Honor received the 2001Christy Award for North American historical novel. The author of about two hundred novels, Morris appropriates his experiences as a Baptist minister to depict varying aspects of Christianity through his characters, exposing their flaws and emphasizing their spiritual strengths. His characters serve as models of how Christians can attain morally strong lives for themselves and help others in the process. Quentin epitomizes such spiritual awakening. Already committed to religion, he strengthens his beliefs and devotion to serving God while undergoing trials testing his faith. Quentin seeks redemption for what he considers his worst sin, killing a man. Guilt consumes him. He humbles himself and makes personal sacrifices while he repents, trying to make amends.

Quentin lives to serve God. He considers his healing abilities and knowledge divinely given. Prayer is important to Quentin, who silently prays for God’s help during surgeries and credits God’s intervention when he cures and saves patients. A compassionate man, Quentin comforts his patients and their families with prayers. He selflessly shares his faith and resourcefulness to strengthen others to better their quality of life and help them accept God. Disillusioned by many of his colleagues’ hypocrisy, Quentin endeavors to act ethically and mercifully, trusting God to guide him.

Quentin’s sincerity is spiritually based. He quotes Scripture and attends church. He seriously regards words from the book of Job, emphasizing his need to be an honorable and virtuous man. He incorporates scriptural lessons into his daily life, striving to be dutiful to his community and family, particularly Hannah, and he extends altruistic aid without dwelling on any personal needs he might have. While seeking redemption, Quentin remains faithful to Irene despite temptations, honorably ending their engagement when his spiritual awakening reveals a greater purpose for him in Arkansas.

Eden and her home represent paradise to Quentin. He sees God’s presence in the wondrous countryside surrounding the Breckenridge farm. Eden reminds him of the sin he committed by killing her husband and his need to secure forgiveness from God, Eden, and her children. By confessing and atoning for his sin and righting his wrongs by performing good deeds, Quentin is the family’s salvation as well as the community’s savior, providing wisdom, hope, and unwavering friendship. Through this spiritual renewal, Quentin appreciates God’s plans for him, honorably embracing his role as a Christian healer.

Sources for Further Study

Butler, Tamara. Review of The Virtuous Woman, by Gilbert Morris. Library Journal 130, no. 2 (February 1, 2005): 64-65. A review of the thirty-fourth novel in the House of Winslow series by the prolific Morris. Sheds light on some of the author’s Christian values regarding women.

“Gilbert (Leslie) Morris.” Contemporary Authors Online. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2007. A short biography of Morris that discusses and lists his numerous works.

Morris, Gilbert. How to Write and Sell a Christian Novel. Phoenix, Ariz.: Write Now Publications, 2000. English professor and Baptist minister Morris discusses development of diverse Christian themes, characterizations, and plots for realistic, moral storytelling.

Pellegrino, Edmund D., and David C. Thomasma, with editorial assistance from David G. Miller. The Christian Virtues in Medical Practice. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1996. Discusses Christian physicians and how their faith shapes their practices, discussing compassion, selflessness, love for all patients, and trusting God. Provides scriptural examples.

Publishers Weekly. Review of The Exiles, by Gilbert Morris and Lynn Morris. 250, no. 5 (February 3, 2003): 55. A review of the first in the Creole series, written by Morris and his daughter. Notes the prolific and formulaic production of books by this author, to the pleasure of his reading public.