The Bishop’s Man
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Known to fellow priests as the “Exorcist” because of his special role as clean-up man for the Bishop of Antigonish, Duncan has a talent for coolly reassigning deviant priests while ensuring minimal fuss from victims and their families. It has been a lonely vocation, but Duncan is generally satisfied that his work is a necessary defence of the church. All this changes when lawyers and a policeman snoop too close for the bishop’s comfort. Duncan is assigned a parish in the remote Cape Breton community of Creignish and told to wait it out.
This is not the first time Duncan has been sent away for knowing too much: decades ago, the displeased bishop sent a more idealistic Duncan to Honduras for voicing suspicions about a revered priest. It was there that Duncan first tasted forbidden love, with the beautiful Jacinta. It was also there that he met the courageous Father Alfonso, who taught him more about spiritual devotion than he had ever known back home. But when an act of violence in Honduras shook Duncan to his core, he returned home a changed man, willing to quietly execute the bishop’s commands.
Now, decades later in Cape Breton, Duncan claims to his concerned sister Effie that isolation is his preference. But when several women seek to befriend him, along with some long-estranged friends, Duncan is alternately tempted and unnerved by their attentions. Drink becomes his only solace.
Attempting to distract himself with parish work, Duncan takes an interest in troubled young Danny, whose good-hearted father sells Duncan a boat he names The Jacinta. To Duncan’s alarm, he discovers that the boy once spent time with an errant priest who had been dispatched by Duncan himself to Port Hood. Duncan begins to ask questions, dreading the answers. When tragedy strikes, he knows that he must act. But will his actions be those of a good priest, or an all too flawed man?
Winner of the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize, Linden MacIntyre’s searing The Bishop’s Man is an unforgettable and complex character study of a deeply conflicted man at the precipice of his life. Can we ever be certain of an individual’s guilt or innocence? Is violence ever justified? Can any act of contrition redeem our own complicity?
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
The priest who sent other priests away when scandals surfaced in their parishes is now himself being sent away out of the media spotlight. He finds that events, including the sexual abuse of children, will not go away. A complex character struggles with his past, his conscience and his church in the gripping and very well written story. Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2009.
The Bishop’s Man is perhaps as close as we will get to eavesdropping on the private conversations we were never meant to hear among clergy or between clergy and “complainers”. It is an unforgettable and complex character study of a deeply conflicted man at the precipice of his life. It poses the question -can any act of contrition redeem our own complicity?
Winner 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Relevant to an international readership; combines an examination of a very topical issue with the portrayal of a compelling, complex character and an engrossing depiction of a Cape Breton community. These elements introduce contemporary, universal themes.
A brace and nuanced novel, The Bishop’s Man takes on the disturbing issue of the sexual abuses of children perpetrated by Catholic priests. The title is a reference to the work that Fr. Duncan Mac Askill does on behalf of his bishop and his church, removing offending priests and silencing their victims. The novel’s great strength is the compassionate and complex rendering of the character of Mac Askill, as he struggles with his loneliness and imperfections.