Office of Innocence: A Novel - Softcover

Keneally, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1400030951 ISBN 13: 9781400030958

Publisher: Anchor, 2004

Synopsis

Marshalling the vast powers of narrative and historical re-creation that he brought to his international bestseller Schindler’s List, Thomas Keneally has created a moving and provocative novel about a headstrong young Catholic priest in World War II Australia. As Sydney braces itself for a Japanese invasion, Father Frank Darragh finds his pastoral duties becoming increasingly challenging. How should he counsel an AWOL black American soldier who may face death for his involvement with a white woman? And what should he say to another woman—the distressingly beguiling Kate Heggarty—who impresses him with her virtue even as she edges toward sin?

When Kate is found murdered, Darragh falls under suspicion. And even if the police clear him, his superiors—and his own conscience—may not. Office of Innocence is a book that’s impossible to put down, dense with moral complexity and alive with period detail.

About this title

From the Back Cover

“The Office of Innocence is poignant and quietly aspirational, thronged by Keneally’s typically vivid or sympathetic characters.” – Independent

“What is remarkable about Office of Innocence is how finely balanced it is morally. Keneally’s twenty-fifth work of fiction proves his sustained energy and the sustained gracefulness of his intelligence.” - London Sunday Times

“The true excellence of Office of Innocence lies in the author’s ability to blend his depiction of a seaside village in crisis as the Japanese threaten to invade with the nuances of morality and faith that constantly keep Darragh at odds with himself.” – Publishers Weekly

“A good book, a serious book and, because it is both, a stirring book.” – The Sunday Telegraph

“A tight, supremely clear-sighted narrative” – Time Out London

About the Author

Thomas Keneally is the acclaimed author of more than two dozen books, including Schindler's List, which won the Booker Prize and inspired the film; The Great Shame: The Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World; and, most recently, American Scoundrel, a biography of Civil War general Dan Sickles. He lives in Sydney, Australia.

About this edition

• Publisher: Anchor
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1400030951
• ISBN 13: 9781400030958
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336