Crimes of the Father by Thomas Keneally is one of those books meant to make you uneasy, and your skin crawl but I don't know what I was thinking when I requested this book. I can only think I saw his name and didn't bother to read the blurb because this was really, really, really, not a book for me.

Father Frank Docherty is a learned man, a priest and a scholar, but his radical preaching in Sydney led to him being banished to Canada. Many years later he is back in Australia to invest allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church. This is a deep and profound book which is not easy reading but it touches on huge moral and spiritual issues of today.

Thomas Keneally is a very uneven writer. A master storyteller, admittedly, but his novels vary quite a bit in quality and disappointingly, in view of the serious subject matter, this one is one of his less successful ones. It focuses on Father Frank Docherty who is determined to highlight and improve the way the Catholic Church responds to allegations and convictions of sexual abuse of children by priests. In this heartfelt and serious exploration of the subject we meet a number of characters who are all caught up in the horrific events, from members of the Church to perpetrators and their victims and families. Keneally looks at the power and control of the Church as well as the vexed question of celibacy. These are all weighty issues and fictionalising them is usually an excellent way of bringing them to a wider audience. But for me the novel lacks deep emotion and the tone remains dispassionate and cold. We are on the outside looking in rather than being fully invested in the characters, who all seem chosen to make a point or deliver a different point of view or attitude. In the main they are types rather than fully-rounded characters. Even Father Docherty himself seems to be Keneally’s mouthpiece rather than someone the reader can identify with. Dialogue is often stilted and again there to express ideas and theories rather than representing everyday conversation. Keneally has done his research, for sure, and in fact in 2002 he was commissioned by the New Yorker to write a non-fiction piece on the subject, and there is definitely a non-fiction feeling about the novel. Nevertheless, it’s well worth reading as it opens up the subject and is certainly thought-provoking.

DNF - I wanted to give this a good go, and I admire the author, but it fell into the 'dump' pile like one or two others he's done recently. The writing featured too much summary and not enough scenes-as-seen, and seemed to be going nowhere, which the settings - recent but yet still historical - didn't help. It quickly lost the characters I was interested in, in favour of a lengthy and uninteresting series of flashbacks regarding religious procedure, for want of a better word, which meant as much to be as the priest's beloved cricket would. Finally, the fact that all the reviews I've seen seem to mention the Father and not the character I assume to be the victim proves to me that the book's balance is entirely wrong..

This is a no holds barred novel about life for those of Catholic faith. It is an intensely thought-provoking story, mirrored by current reality. As I finished reading so an Australian Cardinal has been charged with abuse in Melbourne. The story is about moral choices taken under the auspices of religious commitment. The story unfolds gently as Father Docherty returns to his home town for a conference lecture, not expecting to become the catalyst for the discovery of a cover up of child sex abuse crimes. The Catholic church does not get a good press here and for good reason. The issues of celibacy, marriage, power, guilt and faith are discussed from a number of perspectives. This powerful story should be on the bookshelves of every seminary.

This is not an easy subject to read about, but it is a very important one that has become more and more visible over the past 20 years. This tells the tale of one priest's fight to highlight the abuse suffered by young girls and boys in his former diocese. What I found really compelling here, was the tone of the prose. Keneally writes in a very pared back fashion that lends the material a documentary or reportage feel. He outlines the 'facts' and doesn't spend too much time dealing with the emotion that could easily overwhelm any story about such a horrific topic. The different view points found in the narrative lend a sense of truth to the events. This is a novel, but it reads like a historical account of a true case, which I found gripping. Obviously this book is not for everyone, but I found it a very critical evaluation of the conspiracy of silence surrounding the priesthood and consequently, a really important contribution to the overall discussion on the topic.

Crimes of the Fathers

Frank Docherty returns from his posting in Canada to visit his aging mother and to ask the archdiocese if he can return to work in Sydney to be closer to her. He was exiled to Canada in the 1970s because his views on global and church politics were causing embarrassment to the church. As a psychologist, he has been counselling victims of child abuse in Canada and is trying to raise awareness of the opprobrium the church in Australia will face if it doesn't publicly acknowledge the problem instead of trying to sweep it under the carpet.

For me, this is a very dry novel. It's not a page turner as it's often more about process than the characters and is at times very didactic. I'm certain that someone who has grown up in the Roman Catholic Church will identify much more strongly with the issues debated, such as the use of contraception, masturbation, sex before marriage, than I can. It does feel like a debate rather than dialogue that adds to the storyline, however. Because the contemporary scenes are set in 1996, we know how things have moved on over the last 20 years. There have been worldwide reverberations due to victims of child abuse coming forward to name and shame the perpetrators. The question still remains whether those with a predilection towards paedophilia are drawn to the Catholic Church because it offers so much opportunity for them to act or whether it's enforced celibacy that drives men towards committing these acts. In my opinion, blaming celibacy is simply a convenient excuse as they know the deal when they sign up.

I can only give this 3 stars because it read more like a case study than a novel. Frank Docherty is a frustrating character, both weak and strong simultaneously. I felt he was there to provide balance in the good priest / bad priest scenario. I found myself shaking my head often as I was unaware just what a strong hold the RC church had over its congregation in the 1960/70s when the early part of the novel is set, and I was disgusted by the Church's approach to complaints of child abuse. They sought to blame the victim rather than show them compassion and find ways to help heal wounds. There is much in this book to think about and I appreciate that Keneally understands the issues deeply as he himself trained as a priest. I wonder how much of the content of this book is cathartic rather than creative, however.

Thomas Kenealley is a very fine writer and I was expecting this to be excellent. It was good in many ways, but as a novel I had my reservations about it.

Kenealley is from a Catholic family and this is his take on priestly abuse of children (which he states clearly that he never suffered personally, by the way) and the Church's response to it. Set in 1996, we meet Father Frank Docherty who is returning to Sydney after being sent away by a previous Cardinal for his political views and his refusal to accept orthodoxy uncritically. He has remained a priest and also become a psychologist and academic in Canada, working on child abuse in the Church. On his return he becomes embroiled in old abuse cases and we see him wrestling with matters of conscience, honesty, care for victims and so on and how those involved respond. All this is very well done; these parts of the book make an involving, readable story and Kenealley shows his typical intelligently insightful examination of his characters and the moral issues involved.

However, interspersed with this we also get a lot of history: how Frank developed into the man he is; the youthful spiritual struggle of one of the people affected; a good deal of discussion of the Church's attitudes to celibacy, birth control and sexuality generally and so on. For me, although it's important stuff, here its effect was to water down and interfere with the crucial central story and its subject, so the book became something of a slog in some sections. As things reach a head, the narrative becomes very gripping – although I did think that the outcomes were a little to conveniently neat to quite ring true.

I have rounded 3.5 stars up to 4 because it's very well written and has some important things to say, but I can only give this a somewhat qualified recommendation.

(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)