“Based on a true story from the early 1900s, this sordid episode offers a devastating portrait of how political power, the mafia, Catholic cover-ups, and family shame kept rural Sicily in a medieval time warp long into the twentieth century.” Foreword Reviews
Description
Based on a true story and told with the pacing, humor, and thrills of a Mediterranean mystery, Andrea Camilleri’s novel tells of a turn-of-the-century Sicilian scandal that revealed a tendency that is with us still: the refusal to accept the truth.
The lawyer and journalist Matteo Teresi discovers the existence of a secret sect whose members include priests, politicians, and regional VIPs. During the early morning hours, when the town’s churches are closed, the “Sect of the Angels” meets in the sacristy to carry out their holy office: initiating devout virgins into the rites of married life. Preying on their victims’ naivete, the hooded “elect” commit ignominious acts while promising the young women divine grace.
In 1901, at a time of immense changes in Sicilian society, the scandal breaks nationwide. But far from being hailed as a hero, Teresi is accused of disrupting the status quo and irrationally blamed for an outbreak of disease and a series of calamities.
From the salons, churches, and social clubs of Sicily to the country’s highest courts, Camilleri’s novel is a fast-paced, at times funny, passionately rendered portrait of the machinations of power and the difficult destiny of a local hero.
Praise
“Based on a true story from the early 1900s, this sordid episode offers a devastating portrait of how political power, the mafia, Catholic cover-ups, and family shame kept rural Sicily in a medieval time warp long into the twentieth century.” Foreword Reviews
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Dec 2, 2019 |
| Release Date | December 3, 2019 |
| Release Date Machine | 1575331200 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Small Town & Rural, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult |
Author Bio
Andrea Camilleri (1925–2019) wrote the internationally bestselling Inspector Montalbano mysteries as well as historical novels. His books have been made into television shows in Italy and translated into thirty-two languages. His thirteenth Montalbano novel, The Potter’s Field, won the Crime Writers’ Association International Dagger Award and was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Narrator Bio
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.
Overview
Based on a true story and told with the pacing, humor, and thrills of a Mediterranean mystery, Andrea Camilleri’s novel tells of a turn-of-the-century Sicilian scandal that revealed a tendency that is with us still: the refusal to accept the truth.
The lawyer and journalist Matteo Teresi discovers the existence of a secret sect whose members include priests, politicians, and regional VIPs. During the early morning hours, when the town’s churches are closed, the “Sect of the Angels” meets in the sacristy to carry out their holy office: initiating devout virgins into the rites of married life. Preying on their victims’ naivete, the hooded “elect” commit ignominious acts while promising the young women divine grace.
In 1901, at a time of immense changes in Sicilian society, the scandal breaks nationwide. But far from being hailed as a hero, Teresi is accused of disrupting the status quo and irrationally blamed for an outbreak of disease and a series of calamities.
From the salons, churches, and social clubs of Sicily to the country’s highest courts, Camilleri’s novel is a fast-paced, at times funny, passionately rendered portrait of the machinations of power and the difficult destiny of a local hero.
Reviews
Write Your Own Review