A review by polyhy_14
Crimes of the Father by Thomas Keneally

5.0

While we’ve all been made aware, through media reports, of child abuse within the Catholic Church, nothing has brought home the victim impact to me quite as strongly as this novel. While the characters may be fictional, the situations are sadly all too real and the author, himself a former seminarian, highlights areas that I’d previously been unaware of, eg the use of the confessional to groom potential victims and the initial attempts at cover ups, not to mention the impact on the wider community; the families of victims and perpetrators as well as decent clergy and lay people within the church. Using strong rhetoric, he puts issues such as celibacy, sexuality and birth control, to name a few, under the spotlight. This is a piece of writing, not only of great courage, but also of great sensitivity and compassion, and should be widely read.