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Crimes of the Father
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
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Crimes of the Father
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Summary
A courageous and powerful novel about faith, the church, conscience and celibacy.
Excommunicated to Canada due to his radical preaching on the Vietnam War and other human rights causes, Father Frank Docherty is now a psychologist and monk. He returns to Australia to speak on abuse in the church and unwittingly is soon listening to stories from two different people - a young man via his suicide note and an ex-nun - who both claim to have been sexually abused by an eminent Sydney cardinal. This senior churchman is himself currently empannelled in a commission investigating sex abuse within the church.
As a man of character and conscience, Father Docherty finds he must confront each party involved in the abuse and cover-up to try to bring the matter to the attention of the church itself, and to secular authorities.
This riveting, profoundly thoughtful novel is both an exploration of faith as well as an examination of marriage, of conscience and celibacy and of what has become one of the most controversial institutions, the Catholic Church. Tom Keneally, ex-seminarian, pulls no punches as he interrogates the terrible damage done to innocents as the Catholic Church has prevaricated around language and points of law, covering up for its own.
Critic reviews
"Nuanced and relevant.... Crimes of the Father is an excellent example of fiction's capacity to pull apart and explore polarising contemporary problems." ( BMA Magazine)
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What listeners say about Crimes of the Father
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- William
- 27-08-17
Topical and well constructed
Would you listen to Crimes of the Father again? Why?
Probably not, too many other books to listen to
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
It was topical and set in my home country
Have you listened to any of Humphrey Bower’s other performances? How does this one compare?
Yes, he is my favourite narrator.OK though he had less to work with
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
More thought provoking than emotional
Any additional comments?
Worth reading and I bought it for family
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth
- 14-07-17
A good and all to believable story
An all to real story.wonderfully well written and made more real for having been written by a Catholic who almost became a priest. It also made a great audio book beautifully read by Humphrey Bower a great favourite of mine.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- psychosc
- 22-12-22
Balanced treatment of the issue
Pedophilia within the Catholic Church is a horrible thing, but the great thing about this book is that it reveals the personality of a true priest, with his own struggles, and his own gifts and his own generosity towards others. His presence outweighs the bad apples in the bunch.
Humphrey Bower is also one of my favorite readers He brings the characters alive and does not use sarcasm or other fake affectations in his reading. He is very authentic.