The Hermit

The Priest Who Saved a Soul, a Marriage, and a Family

Kevin Wells

In his raw and tender memoir, biographer Kevin Wells pulls readers into the unforgettable story of a parish priest turned hermit, Father Martin Flum, who orchestrated the slow resurrection of his wife, Krista, from the nightmare of her deep wounds and addiction.

In gripping fashion, Kevin tells the story of his family’s own long suffering, which culminated in the dark spring of 2020, as a strange fear pressed down upon the world and his wife spent most nights drinking away long-held shame. When a near-universal chorus of politicians, medical professionals, and Catholic clergy megaphoned the command to “isolate,” Kevin couldn’t imagine a more dooming word for his family, his marriage, and the life of his wife. 

Yet God had other plans. Wells’ honest tale of inner crisis and hope-filled resurrection takes readers on a spiritual rollercoaster, offering a penetrating exploration of the sacramental grace of marriage and the mysterious movement of God in dry, lonely places.

In the journey from darkness to light, three lives—Krista, Kevin, and Father Flum—became forever entwined. It is a deeper kind of love story. The chapters on the fits and starts of renewal unfold like the piecemeal opening of a tomb. The Hermit is a true account of marital survival, a holy priest, redemption, and even the miraculous, where imprisoned shame and sin are transformed into the joy of freedom.

A harrowing, utterly candid account of a married Catholic couple struggling with the bondage of addiction, as well as a biopsy of a Church and a nation afflicted with moral confusion, fears, hatreds, and seemingly irresolvable conflicts. The author teaches us numerous ways to personally resist the devil and grow in love and peace. This phenomenal story should be read by every shepherd of souls—indeed by all those who seek to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
—Michael D. O’Brien, Author, Father Elijah: An Apocalypse

In this deeply personal tale Kevin Wells weaves in The Hermit, the power of God's grace is made manifest in a holy priest who abandons himself totally to God, becoming an instrument wholly dedicated to His will. With the profound and beautiful storytelling we’ve come to expect from Kevin, he testifies to God’s activity in his own family and in the world—full of wounds and brokenness, yes, but over-poured with the healing mercy of the Divine Physician. The Hermit calls us—demands of us—to be Christ’s hands and feet to the hurting. Do not read this book if you don’t want your life forever changed. 
—Eric Sammons, Editor-in-Chief, Crisis Magazine

Many books speak to me. This one moved me. Kevin Wells has written a gripping story of redemption not meant for paper, but for your soul. This book is going to help save a lot of people. A raw, personal, and gut-wrenching story of a soul’s journey out of the abyss of crushing addiction and into the loving light of Jesus Christ. Nobody tells a story like Kevin Wells … nobody.
—Matthew Leonard, Author, Speaker and Founder of the Science of Sainthood

From the very first line of The Hermit, Kevin plunges readers into a story that will linger for years. Those who've brushed up or endured the dark night will find a blaze of light, a sacred blueprint and a way out, as Wells opens wide the horror of addiction, unrequited marital love, and unremitting pain before finally giving way to the salvific work of a mystic-hermit named Father Martin Flum. It is then that readers are immersed into a supernatural embrace that is unforgettable.
—Dan Burke, President of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation and author of Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits

“The Hermit” is a modern tale of pain, redemption, and gospel yeast, set in the shadow of the devastation that Covid wrought. Against that backdrop it illustrates the tremendous power that a little leaven of faith yields when a priest of Jesus Christ mixes it in. Kevin Wells stays with his beloved themes of faith, priests and family and offers a poignant narrative that is at once raw and tender. It is yet another powerful story by this inspired author. It is my hope that many step into this tale of power of light overcoming a fractured world."
—Bishop Joseph Strickland

Kevin Wells recent book The Hermit is a book of courage and humility.  This story which is difficult to tell, will help countless of souls who have been lost in alcohol and drug abuse. It is also a powerful story of how one priest, trusting in God’s grace can move mountains to bring souls back to Christ.
—Sr Deirdre M. Byrne,  POSC, Superior of Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts, Washington DC 

In The Hermit, Kevin Wells powerfully weaves together his own family's beautiful true story of two state-of-life sacraments: Matrimony and Holy Orders. Wells painfully recounts how his own marriage was being slowly crushed under the weight of an unwanted cross, while simultaneously revealing his own priest's lonely--though willfully chosen--ascent to the cross, to make reparation for the Covid-era shut-down of churches and sacraments. These two sacred, intertwined spiritual battles unveil the fullness of what Love requires, both in marriage and priesthood: the mystery of redemptive suffering. I highly recommend this book.
—Leila Miller, author of Made This Way and Impossible Marriages Redeemed

No one can pursue a spiritual life with their pride intact. Many books explain how the spiritual life is pursued in the religious life, but very few show how it is pursued in married life. This is one of them. This is the best that I have ever read. The story of the two protagonists constitutes a delicate, intimate, and compelling narrative and is told with the well-known and riveting literary style of Kevin Wells. So be warned, if you make the mistake of beginning to read this book in the evening, then you are inevitably condemning yourself to a sleepless night.
—David Torkington, Author, How to Pray and Wisdom from the Christian Mystics