"A propellant plot...first-rate."--The Australian
International Praise for Napoleon's Last Island
"This brilliant reworking of a 19th-century footnote is more than historical fiction, it's an account of contemporary relevance - typical Keneally, then . . . Another Keneally trademark is using minor characters to tell a greater story. Through Betsy runs the fault-line between cultures: the British monarchy vs the dubious republican, the global battle writ small. It is her obscurity, her unimportance, which makes her the ideal lens . . . . Writing
Napoleon's Last Island from Betsy's perspective allows Keneally to entertain readers with his trademark verve and impishness. Few can match him as a storyteller, and this story deserved his attention."--The Guardian (Australia)
"Keneally...succeeds, with touches of brilliance, in bringing to life characters in more detail than history ever possibly could. For it is not just a story about Betsy, it is also a coming-of-age story, one in which the protagonist gradually becomes aware of the foibles of human nature. Through her we discover an adult world, a world that she constantly grapples to come to terms with."--The Sydney Morning Herald
Praise for Crimes of the Father "Distinctive and well-wrought. . . . [a] brilliant, brutal rendering."--The New York Times Book Review
"Absorbing...fascinating...Keneally knows how to spin a compelling plot...a good read by a rliable craftsman that tackles an important issue."--New York Journal of Books
"Stunning and heartrending, a work of fiction that has a terrible ring of truth."--Booklist
"Keneally's fiction has returned again and again to the themes of thwarted justice and human opportunism.
Crimes of the Father is the work of a richly experienced and compassionate writer. It has an honest understanding of a deeply wounded culture."--The Sydney Morning Herald
"Keneally boldly puts you in each character's place...Pulsing with rage at ecclesiastical complacency, it's deeply discomfiting (but never prurient) quest for redress narrated with clarity and urgency."--Daily Mail (UK)
"An impressive panorama...
Crimes of the Father [is] a convincing argument for the power of fiction to get under the skin of a great contemporary controversy."--The Times of London (UK)
"Keneally is extraordinarily generous in his story-telling...another hugely satisfying read from one of the world's great writers."--The Spectator
A timely, courageous and powerful novel about faith, the church, conscience and celibacy.