THE COLOR OF BLOOD

by Brian Moore ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 14, 1987

Moore continues to consolidate his position as Catholic fiction's most forceful voice in the 1980's, a worthy successor to Graham Greene and Shusaku Endo. Black Robe (1985) was a complex, disturbing study of 17th-century missionaries; and this new novel, though less ambitious, turns current headlines--the role of priests in a totalitarian state--into stark, subtle, Greene-ish drama. In an unnamed, Poland-like nation, Cardinal Stefan Bern has managed to coax concessions--extensive rights of free worship--from the repressive rÉgime. But, while Bern and the workers' leaders agree to continue steady, quiet lobbying for freedom, a small group of fanatic, activist priests (in league with other ""reactionary"" rebels) incites the people to revolt--distributing incendiary leaflets, hoping to turn an upcoming religious celebration into a violent demonstration. Then, in the midst of this tension, Bern is nearly murdered, and soon spirited away to a ""safe house""--supposedly for his own protection--by the Security Police. Or so it seems. But Bern eventually realizes that the kidnappers and would-be assassins are his fellow Catholics--from whom he eventually escapes. And, entering an uneasy alliance with the powers-that-be, Bem sets out to defuse the radical priests' conspiracy--facing them down in a series of violent, eloquent confrontations: ""Are we idling the churches because we love God more than before? Or do we do it out of nostalgia for the past, or, worse, to defy the government? Because if we do. . .then God is mocked."" Shrewdly balanced between lean action and compact debate: a short, somewhat predictable, yet resonant moral tale--with no easy answers to sweeten the grave, grimly ironic proceedings.

Pub Date: Sept. 14, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION