Paperback: Thomas, a 23-year-old student priest, emerges alone from the wilderness four days after surviving a plane crash.
But a missing woman's footprints are found with his, near the crash site.
What part did Thomas play in her disappearance?
And why does he claim he cannot remember?
Sent to a psychiatrist by Church authorities to recover his memories, Thomas' life and world unravel in ways he could never have foreseen, shaking the very foundations of his faith, his loyalty to the Catholic Church and the vocation he had chosen.
Grappling with impossible expectations and burdened with guilt, the flawed characters show the consequences of oppressive rules colliding with impulses that cannot be tamed.
This compelling and timely novel, Crooked Vows (2016), explores the underpinnings of a deeply conservative Australian Catholic community in the 1950s whose outward piety hides a shameful underbelly that dares not be exposed. It resonates strongly with the present time and the deluge of revelations about sexual abuse of children, committed and protected within supposedly respectable institutions.
About the author: John Watt is a retired academic, a former Catholic seminarian, and a first time novelist from Busselton, Western Australia.
Rating: 5/5
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