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Redemption
Father Adamo Bianchi returns to Rome to find his mother dying and his sisters on what he sees as the road to self-destruction. He accuses one sister of prostitution, blind to the fact her actions are an act of desperation; the Holy Father has prevented Livia from taking her final vows in order to provide his personal pleasures within the Papal Suite, the threat of excommunication for her family wielded freely over her head. His younger sister, Chiara, in an attempt to keep food on the table, is discovered keeping company with and doing labor for a Jew. The fear that their transgressions will cost Adamo his cassock and collar consumes him. As his vocation progresses to bishop, then cardinal, he is completely unaware of the sacrifices being made by his family. When the Holy Father is murdered, Adamo is forced to face the truth when asked to extract a confession from his sister. Reality blurred by the prestige of his crimson vestments, Adamo chooses his faith over his family. Redemption is a story of corruption and manipulation within the church. Abuse of power, indulgences, espionage and murder all become integral aspects of Adamo's life while he disregards the moral virtues that propelled his vocation.
238 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2011
1 person is currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Mary Cote
20 books14 followersMary writes her books while sitting under a cherry tree in the middle of nowhere, British Columbia, gaining inspiration from her two sons, and Herbert the WonderDog.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 6, 2012
Redemption
by Mary Cote
Published 2011 ~ Writers AMuse Me Publishing
Review by Sarah Jane Einerson
“The scent of holy oil hung heavy in the air, sickeningly sweet”. The first words of the book will stay with the reader long after the last words are read. It is not just a story of corruption, abuse and power, but more importantly one of survival, awakening and love. Father Adamo Bianchi, who has been absent from his family for years, returns to Rome to find his mother dying. He thinks his one sister (Livia), who was on her way to becoming a nun, has taken to a life of prostitution. The other sister (Chiara), whom he thinks is an innocent child, is doing everything she can to put food on the table. The priest did not come home to see his dying mother and siblings. He came at the request of the Holy Father or Pope. In his quest to be elevated in the church, Father Bianchi chooses the life of the church over the life of his family and the price is redemption.
Redemption is a powerfully rich story and the writer takes us back to a world hundreds of years ago where unimaginable crimes were perpetrated by the men in the Catholic Church. The readers are allowed into both innocent and guilty minds in such a way that lets them both empathize and despise the different characters. It is an easy read that will leave you wanting more and with a lingering sense of what it must be have been like for the women and men who lived in that world for women and men. This reader gives Redemption a five star rating and, if ten stars were available, would happily give them.
Mary Cote is from Canada and currently resides in British Columbia. This is her second published novel; the first is Never Again, Forever, the story of Rose and the Stanton family who are pushed back to the nineteen hundreds after catastrophe changes their world. She has published a third, Ayne, and her fourth published novel is The Red of Flowing Blood I See. This reader is looking forward to two more coming soon.
by Mary Cote
Published 2011 ~ Writers AMuse Me Publishing
Review by Sarah Jane Einerson
“The scent of holy oil hung heavy in the air, sickeningly sweet”. The first words of the book will stay with the reader long after the last words are read. It is not just a story of corruption, abuse and power, but more importantly one of survival, awakening and love. Father Adamo Bianchi, who has been absent from his family for years, returns to Rome to find his mother dying. He thinks his one sister (Livia), who was on her way to becoming a nun, has taken to a life of prostitution. The other sister (Chiara), whom he thinks is an innocent child, is doing everything she can to put food on the table. The priest did not come home to see his dying mother and siblings. He came at the request of the Holy Father or Pope. In his quest to be elevated in the church, Father Bianchi chooses the life of the church over the life of his family and the price is redemption.
Redemption is a powerfully rich story and the writer takes us back to a world hundreds of years ago where unimaginable crimes were perpetrated by the men in the Catholic Church. The readers are allowed into both innocent and guilty minds in such a way that lets them both empathize and despise the different characters. It is an easy read that will leave you wanting more and with a lingering sense of what it must be have been like for the women and men who lived in that world for women and men. This reader gives Redemption a five star rating and, if ten stars were available, would happily give them.
Mary Cote is from Canada and currently resides in British Columbia. This is her second published novel; the first is Never Again, Forever, the story of Rose and the Stanton family who are pushed back to the nineteen hundreds after catastrophe changes their world. She has published a third, Ayne, and her fourth published novel is The Red of Flowing Blood I See. This reader is looking forward to two more coming soon.
November 5, 2012
Where does it lie? More importantly--when does it lie?
In Rome in the middle ages, when their mother lies dying Livia and Chiara Bianchi are reunited with their older brother Adamo. He has returned to Rome at the Pope's behest to become a bishop, a position he did not earned. Self-centered and blind to the despicable heinous acts and massive corruption in the Church, like many so-called men of god, Adamo seeks not service but self-gratification. His rise is a result of his elder sister Livia who once sought to be a nun but the Holy Father saw her first.
Chiara struggles to make ends meet while trying to make peace with Adamo who has changed for the worse, and supporting Livia as best she can. She works for a Jew, Meshach, a crime in itself, even if it's the only way to put food on the table. Her secret dream is to write, she is one of the few women who learned to read.
A stranger, Tancredo, offers sanctuary and further education for Chiara. Within his home she blooms and falls in love with Adalfieri, Tancredo's son.
Rome's religious heart is rife with brutality and bastards, the Pope's son, a Cardinal seeks advancement and will do anything to take his father's place.
Questions of faith, love, and family bedevil Chiara as she seeks to find herself in a world of sacred monsters and compassionate strangers.
In Redemption, Mary Cote has written a thought-provoking tale of choices and belief.
In Rome in the middle ages, when their mother lies dying Livia and Chiara Bianchi are reunited with their older brother Adamo. He has returned to Rome at the Pope's behest to become a bishop, a position he did not earned. Self-centered and blind to the despicable heinous acts and massive corruption in the Church, like many so-called men of god, Adamo seeks not service but self-gratification. His rise is a result of his elder sister Livia who once sought to be a nun but the Holy Father saw her first.
Chiara struggles to make ends meet while trying to make peace with Adamo who has changed for the worse, and supporting Livia as best she can. She works for a Jew, Meshach, a crime in itself, even if it's the only way to put food on the table. Her secret dream is to write, she is one of the few women who learned to read.
A stranger, Tancredo, offers sanctuary and further education for Chiara. Within his home she blooms and falls in love with Adalfieri, Tancredo's son.
Rome's religious heart is rife with brutality and bastards, the Pope's son, a Cardinal seeks advancement and will do anything to take his father's place.
Questions of faith, love, and family bedevil Chiara as she seeks to find herself in a world of sacred monsters and compassionate strangers.
In Redemption, Mary Cote has written a thought-provoking tale of choices and belief.
November 18, 2011
What did I think? I thought-Damn what a great read! Characters alive-dialogue alive-a beginning a middle and a sumptuous, perfect ending. What more could a reader want from a book? It is one that is worth reading more than one time. I am telling my reading fanatic friends to grab this book while they can!
November 18, 2011
What did I think? I thought-Damn what a great read! Characters alive-dialogue alive-a beginning a middle and a sumptuous, perfect ending. What more could a reader want from a book? It is one that is worth reading more than one time. I am telling my reading fanatic friends to grab this book while they can!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews