Caryll Houselander was een Britse mystica, schrijfster en kunstenares wier werk werd gekenmerkt door diepgaand spiritueel inzicht en artistieke visie. Haar schrijven was gericht op het onthullen van de aanwezigheid van Christus in alle mensen en levensomstandigheden. Haar stijl werd beschreven als verfrissend, alsof ze dingen voor het eerst zag en zelfs de meest droge doctrinaire overwegingen kon verlichten. Haar teksten, waaronder poëzie, korte verhalen en artikelen, worden gewaardeerd om hun spirituele diepte en unieke perspectief op de menselijke ervaring.
The Catholic Women Writers series brings together the English-language prose works of Catholic women from the 19th and 20th centuries. The first volume in the series is Caryll Houselander's The Dry Wood. It offers a vital contribution to the modern literary canon and a profound meditation on the purpose of human suffering.
Petook is a snowy white rooster and proud of his wife's new brood of chicks, and quick to protect them from an intruding young stranger named Jesus walking through the garden. But when he sees the child kneeling in wonder and caressing his newborn chicks, Petook is soothed and crows happily. Years later, Petook, whose home is in sight of Calvary's hill, is awaiting another hatching and becomes strangely agitated when he sees men being lifted onto crosses there. He doesn't know that one of the men being crucified is the same boy who visited Petook's family long ago. But three days later on Easter morning, as a new brood of chicks hatches that coincides with the Resurrection of the stranger, Petook is inspired to crow with great joy, celebrating the mystery of new life.