Dans le secret des ermites d’aujourd’hui

This book consists of three introductory chapters (the realm, the ineffable and the sacred desert), followed by 19 interviews conducted with hermits in France at the end of the 1990s, and finally a concluding epilogue. The author uses the interviews with these hermits who have opted to lead a radical solitary life surrounded by nature to explain respectfully and sensitively the deep inherent spirituality of nature, usually derived from personal experiences and expressed in a simple but poetic language. Most of the interviews are with Catholic hermits who heeded the call to live life as a hermit after having lived in a monastic community.