Crimes of the Father

By: Thomas Keneally

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

A courageous and powerful novel about faith, the church, conscience and celibacy.

Excommunicated to Canada due to his radical preaching on the Vietnam War and other human rights causes, Father Frank Docherty is now a psychologist and monk. He returns to Australia to speak on abuse in the church and unwittingly is soon listening to stories from two different people - a young man via his suicide note and an ex-nun - who both claim to have been sexually abused by an eminent Sydney cardinal. This senior churchman is himself currently empannelled in a commission investigating sex abuse within the church.

As a man of character and conscience, Father Docherty finds he must confront each party involved in the abuse and cover-up to try to bring the matter to the attention of the church itself, and to secular authorities.

This riveting, profoundly thoughtful novel is both an exploration of faith as well as an examination of marriage, of conscience and celibacy and of what has become one of the most controversial institutions, the Catholic Church. Tom Keneally, ex-seminarian, pulls no punches as he interrogates the terrible damage done to innocents as the Catholic Church has prevaricated around language and points of law, covering up for its own.

©2016 The Serpentine Publishing Company (P)2017 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

" Crimes of the Father is the work of a richly experienced and compassionate writer. It has an honest understanding of a deeply wounded culture." ( The Sydney Morning Herald)
"Nuanced and relevant.... Crimes of the Father is an excellent example of fiction's capacity to pull apart and explore polarising contemporary problems." ( BMA Magazine)

Balanced treatment of the issue

Pedophilia within the Catholic Church is a horrible thing, but the great thing about this book is that it reveals the personality of a true priest, with his own struggles, and his own gifts and his own generosity towards others. His presence outweighs the bad apples in the bunch.
Humphrey Bower is also one of my favorite readers He brings the characters alive and does not use sarcasm or other fake affectations in his reading. He is very authentic.