Having grown up in the Catholic faith, this book struck a chord of recognition for me. However, in no way do I mean to suggest that I or anyone I knew experienced physical abuse at the hands of the clergy or teaching nuns. I accept that the perpetrators need to be held to account and the church needs to be honest in its handling of these cases. Too the book... ( )

Whilst this novel focuses on some fictional stories of crimes committed by priests within the catholic church, it must be remembered that it is fiction. By the church's own admission, these type of events do occur, it is not my intention to get into a religious discussion. Needless to say that there are good and bad people everywhere in all organisations including religious groups.

That said, the book is exceptionally well written with believable characters. The story deals with a very difficult subject, and will, no doubt, cause distress to a lot of readers.

Keneally handles it well and manages to keep the reader riveted. ( )

Fiction account of a Catholic priest who goes home to Austrailia, from where he had been exiled for his political church views, to discover the son of a friend had committed suicide. He had left a note citing the sexual abuse he had experienced which led to other actions on the visiting priest with exposing the priests involved in the abuse and the cover-up. I would have given it a "five", but the author's Austrailian dialect and writing style made the read a bit arduous. He also wrote SCHINDLER'S LIST. ( )

Keneally's novel will, without a doubt, scare many people away just by virtue of its subject. It's difficult to pick up a book which you know from the get-go is going to focus on sexual abuse, the Catholic Church, and children who've been taken advantage of by their own priests. And yet, Keneally's creation of Father Frank Doherty is touching, nuanced, and striking; his character is one who is stuck in a situation and place that he never dreamed of entering at all, surrounded by people who distrust him because of his openness and values, and an institution he loves, but sees honestly and feels compelled to criticize because he believes it is only through such criticism that its greatness can be regained, if not maintained.

Keneally's gorgeous writing and unerring pacing make this book nearly impossible to put down, despite the fact that he takes on subjects which, most often, are more comfortably left unspoken. The book is striking, smart, and compelling, and well worth reading for anyone concerned with the Catholic Church as an institution or the faith in our contemporary world, as well as any reader who might be interested in an intricate character study of a man who is caught irrevocably between his faith and his reality.

Absolutely, 100%, recommended. ( )

Frank Docherty is exiled by his order to Canada (from his native Australia) after speaking openly on topics such as the Vietnam War. In Ontario he studies and works as a psychologist specializing in sexual abuse by priests. He returns to Australia to give a lecture and visit his mother, and receives information suggesting that the brother of a very close friend has in the past abused both teenage boys and girls. This brother is (on behalf of the church) currently seeking to make small monetary payments to people abused by other priests in exchange for confidentiality agreements. Frank is obliged to follow his conscience, even though this may jeopardize his chances of returning to Australia for good.

I found this novel interesting, although in a rather cerebral way. There was tension in the way the narrative explored how the church would respond to allegations and whether Frank would persevere. However, some of the story was quite technical and there were chunks which read like a history text book. I found plenty to ponder in connection with the consequences of demanding celibacy of priests and whether those entering the seminary were already a self-selected group of men running from sexual difficulties. The portions dealing with the failure of the church to allow contraception were very interesting to me, but seemed to be making a different point altogether. Indeed there were discussions between characters in the novel about following individual conscience or blind obedience to the Pope/church. Again, these were interesting, but it was like listening to a lecture rather than relating to fully rounded characters facing decisions in their own lives.

Having said all that, I would be interested to read other novels by this author. ( )