“That summer was the best of my childhood, and I knew that it could never be beaten.”

Gemma Porter — the adventurous young protagonist in “The Adventures at Lily Creek: A Hermitage of Her Own” (Full Quiver Publishing, 2022) — has a few typical, warm-weather Shenandoah months filled with friends and family, bike rides and hikes, just like any other kid.

But there’s a notable exception: Gemma also finds an abandoned and historic Catholic chapel in the book for middle school grades.

Life sometimes imitates fiction and vice versa — and in the case of “A Hermitage of Her Own,” the plot reflects an actual archaeological discovery in Stafford County, within the Arlington diocese’s boundaries. That coincidence was unknown to Catholic author Kimberly Cook when she first decided upon her narrative.

“I wanted to make it historical,” Cook remembered.

She called diocesan officials and outlined the premise of her proposed imaginary tale. She was astounded to learn that the diocese is reviewing artifacts unearthed following the accidental uncovering by hunters of graves, and the additional revelation of a hearth and the remains of a small chapel — all located on land once owned by the Brent clan (and now owned by the diocese). The latest discovery is near the Brent Family Cemetery in Aquia, which features a 1930s-era altar.

The Brents — founders of the first English Roman Catholic settlement in Virginia — were driven by political unrest from neighboring Maryland, where they originally immigrated during English Civil War persecution. Once relocated, Giles Brent and his sisters, Margaret and Mary, established two plantations on Aquia Creek between 1647 and 1650.

“The Brents owned hundreds and hundreds of acres of land,” Cook said, noting that “Catholicism at the time was illegal in Maryland and Virginia.”

Giles Brent — despite wealth, social prominence, and service as lieutenant governor of Maryland — was once seized by anti-Catholic authorities.

“The fact that he could be arrested and taken back to England in chains simply for being Catholic — it seems unbelievable by today’s standards,” Cook reflected.

Giles’ sister Margaret Brent, a major landowner, estate manager, executrix to Gov. Leonard Calvert of the Maryland Colony and court appointed attorney-in-fact to Lord Baltimore, cut an audacious female figure — so audacious that she is sometimes remembered as the first woman in the New World to demand the right to vote.

The Brents’ nephew George represented Stafford County in the House of Burgesses, the only Colonial period Catholic delegate. His “Woodstock” plantation — where he died between 1694 and 1700 — was, after a move, situated in present day Aquia Harbor.

“Just to resurrect the history of that — the Brent family having this chapel deep in the woods, and having Masses said in secret,” Cook mused. “It’s a holy spot.” While the 1776 passage of religious toleration acts eased conditions for Catholics, even in 1784, John Carroll — a member of the Brents’ extended family named Bishop of Baltimore in 1789 — reported that “there are not more than 200 (Catholics) in Virginia who are visited four or five times a year by a priest.”

The chapel foundation discovered in Aquia, Va.

Cook was raised nominally Catholic and returned to the faith in her adulthood. She always loved books with “a clear, good choice that needs to be made in the midst of evil.” She created Gemma Porter with a similar sense of daring. “You kind of want that epic journey,” said Cook. “She’s really hungry for that big adventure in life where she gets to slay the dragon.” 

St. Rose of Lima was also among Cook’s sources of inspiration, and a historical detail of her life  — St. Rose maintained a personal hermitage — is reflected in the book’s title. Such a refuge, Cook suggested, offers the “peace that surpasses all things that we are robbed from constantly  in the day to day chaos of the world.”

The storyline of “A Hermitage of Her Own” — the first installment of a planned trilogy — will parallel developments in the diocesan research.

“I can build upon this, based on what they decide to do,” Cook enthused. “What are they going to do with the chapel, in my book? What are they going to with this altar, in the book? And that’s exactly what the diocese is saying right now.”

Kimberley Heatherington | For the Catholic Herald

 

Kimberly Cook

Writer, Podcaster, Mother, & Catholic Apologist. Meet Kimberly