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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... thought, believing it had been a mistake to come on this errand. Earlier, they had passed Faneuil Market and were now making their way up Fish Street toward the city's North End, when he was forced to stop to catch his breath. “A moment ...
... thought, believing it had been a mistake to come on this errand. Earlier, they had passed Faneuil Market and were now making their way up Fish Street toward the city's North End, when he was forced to stop to catch his breath. “A moment ...
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... thought . He'd offered some prayers . He'd consoled Dominic's wife when she'd come by the church . He'd organized a small collection to help the family out financially . A pittance , really . That's all he'd done . " Perhaps I could ...
... thought . He'd offered some prayers . He'd consoled Dominic's wife when she'd come by the church . He'd organized a small collection to help the family out financially . A pittance , really . That's all he'd done . " Perhaps I could ...
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... thought that best. And Cheverus, seeing the logic of such a course, had quietly acquiesced. Neither priest had been to visit the imprisoned son out in the western part of the state. Nor had they offered a word of support from the pulpit ...
... thought that best. And Cheverus, seeing the logic of such a course, had quietly acquiesced. Neither priest had been to visit the imprisoned son out in the western part of the state. Nor had they offered a word of support from the pulpit ...
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... thought to be ignorant and lazy and licentious. They were overly fond of their drink, everyone knew, and when drunk they became violent and wild, little better than animals. They had large families they couldn't feed or clothe ...
... thought to be ignorant and lazy and licentious. They were overly fond of their drink, everyone knew, and when drunk they became violent and wild, little better than animals. They had large families they couldn't feed or clothe ...
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... thought . Just talk . You're their priest , he told himself . They've come to you for help . " Perhaps I could speak to the attorney general after all , ” he offered . “ But I would first have to get permission from Father Matignon ...
... thought . Just talk . You're their priest , he told himself . They've come to you for help . " Perhaps I could speak to the attorney general after all , ” he offered . “ But I would first have to get permission from Father Matignon ...
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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