The Garden of MartyrsA Catholic parish is torn apart when two of its members are accused of murder The year 1806 is not a good time to be Catholic in Boston. When a man is brutally killed on the Boston Post Road, two unsuspecting Irishmen are charged with the crime. For five months they rot in prison, denied a lawyer until just two days before the hearing. It is a mockery of justice—a one-day trial that results in a unanimous verdict: The Irishmen will be hanged, dissected, and dismembered. Comforting them falls to Father Cheverus, a French émigré struggling to adapt to life in the New World. It is his duty to help the condemned find peace, but any overture he makes to the prisoners will be met with an anti-Catholic backlash that could destroy his fledgling congregation. As he walks a fraught path, the priest must decide: Is his obligation to his flock, or to God? |
From inside the book
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... morning , arrested them at Rye , about 30 miles from New York .... The two men who are supposed to have committed the murder were brought to the gaol in this town last Friday evening ; and will probably be tried at the next Supreme ...
... morning , arrested them at Rye , about 30 miles from New York .... The two men who are supposed to have committed the murder were brought to the gaol in this town last Friday evening ; and will probably be tried at the next Supreme ...
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... morning , how the little French priest had vomited right there in the street , like some besotted wretch . " Are ye sure , Father ? I saw one just back a ways . " " No , Thomas . I can make it . " He hardly ever hired a carriage , even ...
... morning , how the little French priest had vomited right there in the street , like some besotted wretch . " Are ye sure , Father ? I saw one just back a ways . " " No , Thomas . I can make it . " He hardly ever hired a carriage , even ...
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... morning ? Father Matignon will be back by then . " He felt guilty . Despite the fact that he was ill and should have been in bed , he knew he was foisting the responsibility of dealing with the family onto his colleague . “ It's just ...
... morning ? Father Matignon will be back by then . " He felt guilty . Despite the fact that he was ill and should have been in bed , he knew he was foisting the responsibility of dealing with the family onto his colleague . “ It's just ...
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... morning , in that slippery , blue - black territory between night and day , when a man's heart can fail him utterly . In the bunk next to his , Daley was snoring away . It always amazed him how soundly the fellow slept , as untroubled ...
... morning , in that slippery , blue - black territory between night and day , when a man's heart can fail him utterly . In the bunk next to his , Daley was snoring away . It always amazed him how soundly the fellow slept , as untroubled ...
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... morning. Outside the jailhouse, the town hadn't yet begun to stir, not even the hoof beats of the early post rider galloping for the ferry. Halligan lay there shivering, curled on his left side, his face inches from the damp stone wall ...
... morning. Outside the jailhouse, the town hadn't yet begun to stir, not even the hoof beats of the early post rider galloping for the ferry. Halligan lay there shivering, curled on his left side, his face inches from the damp stone wall ...
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Common terms and phrases
Archbishop of Arles attorney bay horse Bishop of Dol Blake bloody Boston breath Bridie brother bunk Caleb Strong cassock Catholic cell Cheverus asked child Church confession cried crowd Daley asked Daley's dark death Dominic Daley Dowd eyes face Father Cheverus Father Matignon Federalists feel felt finally Finola Daley forgive gaze glanced guards Halligan asked Halligan thought hand he’d head heard heart horse Irish Irishmen Jacobins jail James Halligan Jamy boy Jean Judge Sedgwick knew Laertes looked Máirtin manacles Marcus Lyon Mattoon Mayenne River mother mouth murder neck never night nodded Northampton papist Perhaps pistol post rider pray prisoners replied Rose seemed September Massacres sheriff shoulder smell smile someone soul stared stood street Sullivan surplice talk tell Thank Theodore Sedgwick thing told took trial turned voice waiting walked wanted woman yellow fever