Bridehead Revisited

Warning: In the interests of literary discussion, I plan to give away the plot and ending to this novel.

Delving for the first time into the work of Evelyn Waugh, I found Brideshead Revisited (1945) to be witty, subtle, and surprisingly Christian. Waugh paints a just and sometimes brutal picture of the sweeping changes that two world wars brought to the cultured and aristocratic families of England. His main character, Captian Charles Ryder, tells the story of his coming to Oxford College, his meeting with Sebastian Flyte, with whom he formed a close friendship, and his subsequent introduction to the Flyte family and their ancestral residence, Brideshead. Ryder eventually falls in love for the first time, and has an affair with Sebastian's married sister, Julia. Their love is doomed, however, and Julia ends the matter when she realizes that she can no longer live in sin with Ryder. The story ends as Ryder returns to Brideshead as a Captain during WWII, billetted at the home with his company of soldiers.
I found the influence of Catholicism in this novel intriguing. I suspect it to be somewhat autobiographical of Waugh's own life. Near the beginning of the novel, Waugh states the belief that God may let a sinner roam to the ends of the earth, but will call him back with 'a twitch upon the thread' (a quote from the inimitable G. K. Chesterton. Furthermore, I find that Waugh intended the book to be about the'operation of divine grace on a group of diverse but closely connected characters.' The entire Flyte family is Catholic in name, but the novel focuses on the Catholicism of three characters: Sebastian, Julia, and Ryder. Sebastian is led into a life of alcoholism by insurmountable family intrigues, and drifts through many empty years until he is taken in by a monastery in North Africa. He becomes a low-level apprentice, avidly fulfilling his duties but never quite mastering his alcoholism. One is reminded of the sinner in the temple who beats his breast and cries for mercy. Julia, on the other hand, is believed to be an agnostic. She marries young into a loveless marriage, then finally finds love later in life with Ryder. When her father (an avowed athiest) comes home to Brideshead to die, Julia finds herself urging her father to allow the ceremony of Extreme Unction. Just before his death, her father signals his repentance, and dies under the protection of the Catholic church. Because of these events, Julia realizes that she does believe after all, which ends the relationship with Ryder.
Ryder remained a mystery to me until the end of the book. He is talented, famous, wealthy, and has found meaning only in his love for the lovely Julia. When she is lost, I expected the book to end in despair and cynicism. It doesn't. When Ryder finds himself at Brideshead once again, his reaction is one of gentle humor at the incongruous situation. Ryder saw the culture of British aristocracy fall apart in the years before the war. Just before WWII breaks out, he loses the only woman he has ever truly loved. And it seems as if he knows that he had to be brought to this point in order to know God. He is a man who has lost everything, but has gained the knowledge of God, and found this better than all else. He can chuckle at the fact that he ended up at Brideshead in the end. He knows now why he met the family. All the strange turnings of fate, the trials, etc. have ended in him finally seeing the One behind it all. And he is content.
Have I read this book wrong? Perhaps. I hope not. I would welcome comments. I look forward to reading more of this author's work.