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The Conduct of Saints
The Conduct of Saints is a battleground on which power, God, sex, and the Devil collide in the impoverished city of Rome during May and June of 1945. The German occupation of the Eternal City has ended, the war in Europe is over, the Bomb has yet to fall on Japan, and Rome is under the jurisdiction of the victors - the American, British, and French Allied Control Commission.
An America Vatican prelate and lawyer, Brendan Doherty, is involved in two crusades. With his horror of capital punishment, he means to avert the execution of the Nazi collaborator Pietro Koch. As Devil's Advocate, doherty intends also to prove the hypocrisy of Alessandro Serenelli, the man who, forty years before, murdered the child martyr, soon to be canonized Maria Goretti. Converted by a vision, Serenelli has spent his life, in prison and out, in promotion of the beatification of his victim.
Memory-tormented, hard-drinking, a moral street fighter for what he is sure is right, both angry and compassionate, Doherty feels guilt for having done too little to save the city's Jews from Auschwitz. He engages in his causes and quarrels with Rome's pre-dolce vita, postwar society - people both fictional and, like Alessandro Serenelli, Maria Goretti, Pietro Koch, Pius XII, and film director Luchino Visconti, historical - until the priest comes to a reckoning with himself and with the serene, unshakeable saint-maker Serenelli.
An America Vatican prelate and lawyer, Brendan Doherty, is involved in two crusades. With his horror of capital punishment, he means to avert the execution of the Nazi collaborator Pietro Koch. As Devil's Advocate, doherty intends also to prove the hypocrisy of Alessandro Serenelli, the man who, forty years before, murdered the child martyr, soon to be canonized Maria Goretti. Converted by a vision, Serenelli has spent his life, in prison and out, in promotion of the beatification of his victim.
Memory-tormented, hard-drinking, a moral street fighter for what he is sure is right, both angry and compassionate, Doherty feels guilt for having done too little to save the city's Jews from Auschwitz. He engages in his causes and quarrels with Rome's pre-dolce vita, postwar society - people both fictional and, like Alessandro Serenelli, Maria Goretti, Pietro Koch, Pius XII, and film director Luchino Visconti, historical - until the priest comes to a reckoning with himself and with the serene, unshakeable saint-maker Serenelli.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2013
179 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Davis
15 books5 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 14, 2013
Redemption is hard to achieve and sometimes even harder to understand, as Christopher Davis makes clear in this novel of post-world-war-II Italy and Vatican promise. Can a murderer be redeemed by seeing a vision of his victim forgiving him? Is there hope for a man who’s caused the deaths of too many to remember their faces? Can faith redeem, and can it be rushed into existence before a court condemns? And finally, will a drunken priest redeem himself by saving a prisoner’s life, or by condemning another man’s soul—do lives or souls weight heavier on the scales of salvation?
Italy struggles under Allied occupation at the end of World War II. At least a few of those who collaborated with Hitler now face justice, while others struggle to force their own will through the labyrinth of political, religious and sexual corruption left behind. The Catholic church needs a new saint for a new age, and perhaps an old sinner will be the one to conduct her on her way.
Each in his own different prison, each challenged to find escape, and each lavish in invention, the characters of this novel conduct their own strange dance around each other’s sins. Sexual, political, military and personal corruption vie for control. Those who seek redemption in redeeming others might find themselves doubly betrayed. The sad American priest, the scheming Italian, conniving lovers and wives, betrayed Jewish survivors and naïve supplicants, all prove to be pawns, all are lost, and none are as gently found as the forgiven murderer of one. But in the end, only one is being conducted to sainthood. And if saints can save us, they’ll do so one at a time.
Wonderfully evocative, thought-provoking, oddly redemptive despite its corruption and depression, the Conduct of Saints is a truly intriguing drama with a pleasing mix of real-life and imagined characters on the stage of history.
Disclosure: I received a free bound galley of this novel from the publisher with a request for my honest review.
Italy struggles under Allied occupation at the end of World War II. At least a few of those who collaborated with Hitler now face justice, while others struggle to force their own will through the labyrinth of political, religious and sexual corruption left behind. The Catholic church needs a new saint for a new age, and perhaps an old sinner will be the one to conduct her on her way.
Each in his own different prison, each challenged to find escape, and each lavish in invention, the characters of this novel conduct their own strange dance around each other’s sins. Sexual, political, military and personal corruption vie for control. Those who seek redemption in redeeming others might find themselves doubly betrayed. The sad American priest, the scheming Italian, conniving lovers and wives, betrayed Jewish survivors and naïve supplicants, all prove to be pawns, all are lost, and none are as gently found as the forgiven murderer of one. But in the end, only one is being conducted to sainthood. And if saints can save us, they’ll do so one at a time.
Wonderfully evocative, thought-provoking, oddly redemptive despite its corruption and depression, the Conduct of Saints is a truly intriguing drama with a pleasing mix of real-life and imagined characters on the stage of history.
Disclosure: I received a free bound galley of this novel from the publisher with a request for my honest review.
June 8, 2013
Christopher Davis created a memorable character in Rev. Brendan Doherty, a man so flawed and conflicted he wasn't all that likeable. It takes talent to create a character like that! Brendan Doherty's "conduct", decidedly un-priestly, was punctuated with drinking, smoking, more drinking, eating poorly, looking slovenly, sick, and overweight, riding a bicycle around Rome, and drinking, all the while conducting investigations and interrogations on behalf of The Vatican, even holding personal audiences with the Pope. The action (or not) takes place around Rome just after WWII, as Italy tries to right itself from Fascism, Communism, and other waste products of the war. Regardless of his attractiveness or not, the Reader follows Brendan Doherty on his investigations and intercessions on behalf of a murderer who killed a nominee for sainthood, an ex-Fascist collaborator in charge of killing thousands of innocent Italian citizens, and (in the past)a Jewish family who wished to be saved from extermination by converting to the Catholic faith.
I would have liked the book better had it followed a specific thread of one of those stories. My choice would have been the one that began the book: an interrogation of the murderer Alessandro Serenelli. The Pope, apparently, was in favor of canonizing a new saint to raise the spirits of Italians after the war. Brendan was to examine and interview Maria Goretti's murderer in connection with visions he'd received from his sainted victim. For reasons not totally explained, Brendan was convinced Alessandro was a liar. But it seemed the Pope didn't care one way or another for Brendan's findings in this matter; he wanted a saint. And there was no definite conclusion to this part of the book.
Other episodes in the book highlighted the "conduct" of the Church and other entities during the transitional time after WWII in Italy and the Pope's inaction regarding the Nazis' campaign to exterminate the Jews, even in Italy. There was not a clear plot-- beginning, middle, or end to this novel. But rather it seemed like an expose of much research undertaken by the author. Brendan Doherty's characterization was the main ingredient of a novel. The title was most appropriate for this book.
I would have liked the book better had it followed a specific thread of one of those stories. My choice would have been the one that began the book: an interrogation of the murderer Alessandro Serenelli. The Pope, apparently, was in favor of canonizing a new saint to raise the spirits of Italians after the war. Brendan was to examine and interview Maria Goretti's murderer in connection with visions he'd received from his sainted victim. For reasons not totally explained, Brendan was convinced Alessandro was a liar. But it seemed the Pope didn't care one way or another for Brendan's findings in this matter; he wanted a saint. And there was no definite conclusion to this part of the book.
Other episodes in the book highlighted the "conduct" of the Church and other entities during the transitional time after WWII in Italy and the Pope's inaction regarding the Nazis' campaign to exterminate the Jews, even in Italy. There was not a clear plot-- beginning, middle, or end to this novel. But rather it seemed like an expose of much research undertaken by the author. Brendan Doherty's characterization was the main ingredient of a novel. The title was most appropriate for this book.
August 8, 2013
There are so many books floating around out there that the odds of catching a good one off a quick browse of the library's shelves are not all that great. Having a range of interests helps, casting your line over and over again helps, but luck is still involved. Once in a while a great one might jump into your hand. And thus end the fishing metaphors, except to say The Conduct of Saints was a real catch.
This is Vatican skullduggery, but unlike Andrew Greeley's potboilers, Morris West's attempts at meaning, or Dan Brown's wretched and pathetic thrillers, this is skullduggery at the highest levels of craft and meaning, (think Graham Greene meets John LeCarre.)
The saints in question are Monsignor Brendan Doherty, a conflicted whiskey priest killing himself in a war of scruples v. duty where everything is gray (including the Pope's ((Pius XII)) casual clothes;) Allesandro Serenelli, the man who murdered the child-saint Maria Goretti; and Pietro Koch, a 27 year old Nazi collaboratior and fascist thug responsible for the Roman roundups, and the infamous slaughter of 300 innocents at the Ardeatine Caves. This book is true to its title, and their conduct makes for some of the most morally complex and fascinating reading I've done in a long time.
Author Christopher Davis is also quite the find - though he's been hiding in plain sight. He's the author of eleven previous novels, and three books of non-fiction. He was nominated for the National Book Award in 1971; and won the Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, in 1990. It's been 23 years since he's published and he writes with the breadth, depth, and wit of an open-eyed witness to our follies.
I couldn't recommend this book more.
An addition: there is one scene of extreme violence that even set me back, and for me it's like Alex said, "nothing like a bit of the old ultra-violence," or words to that effect. So - forewarned.
This is Vatican skullduggery, but unlike Andrew Greeley's potboilers, Morris West's attempts at meaning, or Dan Brown's wretched and pathetic thrillers, this is skullduggery at the highest levels of craft and meaning, (think Graham Greene meets John LeCarre.)
The saints in question are Monsignor Brendan Doherty, a conflicted whiskey priest killing himself in a war of scruples v. duty where everything is gray (including the Pope's ((Pius XII)) casual clothes;) Allesandro Serenelli, the man who murdered the child-saint Maria Goretti; and Pietro Koch, a 27 year old Nazi collaboratior and fascist thug responsible for the Roman roundups, and the infamous slaughter of 300 innocents at the Ardeatine Caves. This book is true to its title, and their conduct makes for some of the most morally complex and fascinating reading I've done in a long time.
Author Christopher Davis is also quite the find - though he's been hiding in plain sight. He's the author of eleven previous novels, and three books of non-fiction. He was nominated for the National Book Award in 1971; and won the Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, in 1990. It's been 23 years since he's published and he writes with the breadth, depth, and wit of an open-eyed witness to our follies.
I couldn't recommend this book more.
An addition: there is one scene of extreme violence that even set me back, and for me it's like Alex said, "nothing like a bit of the old ultra-violence," or words to that effect. So - forewarned.
April 25, 2013
Unsettling...Excellent
"He had done his duty and been correct in doing so, but he had been wrong in taking on the duty."
This comment, from one character's self-examination, fully sums up this book. It is the one line most memorable to me. Well before I reached the mid-point of this book, I had the uneasy feeling that I had when I watched Burt Lancaster's character of Dr. Ernst Janning in the movie "Judgement At Nuremberg" - that between black and white there can be many shades of gray.
Brendan Doherty, the murderer Serenelli, the war criminal Koch - three men battling their demons, three men vastly different on the outside, three men struggling to find peace on the inside - are all connected by one dilapidated bicycle in post-World War II Rome. Their characters are so skillfully developed and their stories are so delicately interwoven as to seem more real than created. Their lives are told as each layer of their histories is revealed.
The book is very well-written. Each side story introduced is essential to the book as a whole - the Princess, the local Jews who fell victim to the Holocaust, the dreams, the corruption, the theft of priceless artwork. Each character is richly detailed. Every scene portrayed seems to live and breathe.
While each thread of the tale is closed, being resolved is a different matter. If all you want from a book is theological and ethical pablum, then do not read this book. This book challenges comfortable thought.
"He had done his duty and been correct in doing so, but he had been wrong in taking on the duty."
This comment, from one character's self-examination, fully sums up this book. It is the one line most memorable to me. Well before I reached the mid-point of this book, I had the uneasy feeling that I had when I watched Burt Lancaster's character of Dr. Ernst Janning in the movie "Judgement At Nuremberg" - that between black and white there can be many shades of gray.
Brendan Doherty, the murderer Serenelli, the war criminal Koch - three men battling their demons, three men vastly different on the outside, three men struggling to find peace on the inside - are all connected by one dilapidated bicycle in post-World War II Rome. Their characters are so skillfully developed and their stories are so delicately interwoven as to seem more real than created. Their lives are told as each layer of their histories is revealed.
The book is very well-written. Each side story introduced is essential to the book as a whole - the Princess, the local Jews who fell victim to the Holocaust, the dreams, the corruption, the theft of priceless artwork. Each character is richly detailed. Every scene portrayed seems to live and breathe.
While each thread of the tale is closed, being resolved is a different matter. If all you want from a book is theological and ethical pablum, then do not read this book. This book challenges comfortable thought.
May 16, 2016
At first, I was really impressed with this novel—it is atmospheric, well researched and has vivid characters that make the reader very uncomfortable. However, by about a third of the way in, I couldn’t help but noticing it was the same few tricks performed over and over. The characters were all vivid and uncomfortable in much the same way. We got every ache, every awkward moment, every drink, every lurid sexual encounter in detail (and it was basically those four things repeated ad nauseam). But there was nothing beyond that—no one really changed, there wasn’t really a plot beyond waiting out the clock for one character’s trial, and through constant use of flashback and cheap cutaways, I was left with just enough questions to keep pressing on. Scenes kept foreshadowing or referencing one another for reasons that never seemed to resolve. None of the 'surprises' throughout the novel surprised me, most were pretty obvious in advance. None really advanced the plot. Had something ever actually happened, I might have felt differently, but nothing ever did.
November 21, 2014
A historical thriller! This one is a fantastic read for those who like to delve into the intricacies of what occurred in WWII. Auschwitz can NEVER be forgotten. This novel takes the reader back in time.. to fully explore the life of one man.. who now must deal with what he did.. and did NOT do. So many do not realize.. tyrants gain major power.. when the public does NOT speak up. Ultimately, it is up to each and every one of us.. to make sure that this NEVER happens again. A good read that I'd highly recommend to anyone who loves history.. and one that I'd recommend to anyone who may need to see what apathy truly costs. Well done!
April 4, 2013
Takes place at the end of World War II in Rome. The German occupation of the city has ended and war is still going on with Japan. A historical fiction mixed along with real historical people and facts. The main character Brendan Doherty, an American priest, is a complex character fighting his own inner demons. At the same time he has taken on two causes, one he believes in and one he feels he just needs to do in order to bring out the truth. A good balance between a war time story and the inner workings of the Catholic Church.
May 1, 2014
A well researched novel that provides a fascinating insight into maelstrom of liberated Rome in May/June 1945. Mixing actual and fictional characters the main focus is on troubled, disillusioned Vatican prelate Father Brendan who flounders in seeking redemption for his ineffectiveness during the German occupation. He is a flawed but likeable character in a duplicitious and cynical world. An intelligent and engrossing work of historical fiction.
March 20, 2013
Being set in a time that is just after the end of World War II is what drew me to the book. There was a good mix between the war time story and catholic church parts. Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to those who like to read stories about WWII or the inner workings of the catholic church that has a level of reality to it that makes it closer to the truth than not.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews