Charles Gaines’ Final Novel Unmasks the Man Behind St. Francis

Gaines spent four years synthesizing over fifty historical sources to dismantle the sanitized, bird-loving caricature of the saint. Instead, the narrative centers on a figure wrestling with intense, often conflicting desires: his profound connection to Clare of Assisi, the loss of control over the religious order he founded, and a harrowing, visceral struggle with divine abandonment. Actor Ethan Hawke, who reviewed the manuscript, hailed the work as a rare achievement that captures the "spit and sex and life" of a man whose sainthood was forged through vulnerability rather than perfection.

The author, who died while completing the final edits, leaves behind a legacy that spans from the cultural phenomenon of Pumping Iron to twenty-three diverse books. In this concluding act, Gaines pivots from the physical intensity of his earlier work toward a meditation on the human condition. The novel explores the intersection of nature, love, and ambition, positioning Francis’s reverence for the environment as a sharp, necessary critique of modern exploitation. By grounding his story in the grit of medieval reality, Gaines invites readers to view sanctity as a grueling process of suffering and doubt rather than an unattainable state of grace.