"Crimes of the Father," by Thomas Keneally

      This is a fascinating novel by the old master Keneally, who has authored heaven knows how many books, including Schindler's list. As a seminarian and a candidate for the Roman Catholic priesthood who backed out near his planned ordination, he is particularly knowledgeable about the Church, the faith, and the feelings of those men who give their lives to celibacy and the practice of their religion.
       The protagonist, Frank Docherty, is a priest who has been exiled from Sydney to Canada for his liberal views and public opposition to the Vietnam war (for which Australia supplied troops). In Canada he becomes an academic psychologist, specializing in the psyches of abusive priests. He also continues to function as a priest, celebrating masses in a local church. He returns to Sydney to give a lecture on the subject of abuse, and to petition the Cardinal for his restoration to Sydney, where his aging mother lives. During this visit, he gets caught up in a series of events involving past abuse by the Monsignor brother of a woman with whom he briefly fell in love before his exile to Canada. He also meets up with a woman who drives a taxi who was abused as a young girl by the same man. And then the plot thickens with the suicide of the son of a friend, who leaves a suicide note accusing the same priest and mentioning the name of another boy who was abused. The POV is usually Frank, but other characters have their first person say in a number of chapters. And in the background, though linked to the main theme, is a legal sub-plot about whether the Diocese of Sydney could be sued.
       I thought it was a very good read: TK he certainly knows how to structure a novel: and the writing is of a consistently high standard.