The Indulgence by Eugene Fitzmaurice is a novel about the Roman Catholic Church, private banking and the USA. The book begins in the 18th century and ends around 1900. It is a story about a family that emigrates to America just before the revolution. Multigenerational stories of this sort are normally called sagas, however I don’t think this one fits that description because it is not epic. I use epic as a descriptor. The characters do not seem larger than life. Neither their goodness nor evil seems other than banal. The only person whose evil could have been magnificent fails due to an unreasonable motivation that is ultimately petty. The exception to this banality is the portrayal of the Catholic church. Even though the priests portrayed in the book have the same flaws of the rest of the characters, their service in the church gives them a share in the grandeur of its purpose. Not for nothing has the papacy been called the greatest dynasty in history.
Parts of the book are similar to John Michener's stories, especially Centennial. The difference being Michener's books are either all good, or all bad. This one is sporadically good. The best thing about it being how witty the characters are, which is a saving grace because they are not memorable otherwise.
The first book by this author I read, The Hawkeland Cache; was also about the Catholic Church, finance and America. It is disappointing that he essentially replicated the story. And considering this was his second, it ought to have been better. But the first was much, much better. However, if read without comparison, it is a good book with some interesting history, like how the Irish and the Italians suffered from religious discrimination when they emigrated to America. The movie, Gangs of New York; gives only a hint of how viciously the Irish were treated. Given how Ireland had been a backwater for most its history, it is understandable if the Irish were snubbed. What isn't is the disdain directed at the Italians, since America pays much homage to republican Rome. But then, stupidity doesn’t have to be reasonable.
The title of the book suggests it is about the Catholic practice of indulgence. If the book was about that, the depiction was too subtle for me to pick it up.
It appears the author wrote only 2 books. I really liked the first one and have read it multiple times. I did not like the second one and it is not recommended even though it was an ok story with some interesting dialogue.
Iron Noder 2020, 10/30