WE ARE NOT SAINTS

A gay Roman Catholic clergyman faces the sharp scrutiny of a homophobic dignitary in Brown’s novel, the fourth in a series.

This narrative details a particularly turbulent week in the life of Sean Foley, a beloved elder bishop in the diocese of San Luis Obispo. Foley is best known for selflessly creating, developing, and sustaining the Life Force church group program, which supports at-risk local youth in his jurisdiction. At the age of 75, with retirement imminent, he looks back on a distinguished tenure and his life as a recovering alcoholic and survivor of child abuse. Foley is summoned to the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome by the reigning Cardinal Simon Nwadike, an ultraconservative Nigerian church luminary (whom Foley describes as “Desmond Tutu, only with more severe features”). Prior to meeting the cardinal, Foley reunites with Lujo, an ally in his career and a former longtime lover with whom he’d served at the Roman dicastery 30 years earlier. More recently, Lujo was the first in the cardinal’s crosshairs; now both men fear he is after Foley. Through a series of daily meetings with Nwadike, whose viperish behavior reflects that of a “consummate politician,” the situation becomes grim for Foley, but his fight against excommunication remains honorable, anchored by his critical work advocating for the marginalized LGBTQ+ youth in his diocese. Vivid flashbacks generously depict Foley’s chaotic youth as the son of an abusive, homophobic father. These sequences add texture to the core themes of LGBTQ+ unity and equality and lend heft to the protagonist’s challenging mission to finish out his current position. Employing convincingly realistic dialogue, an urgent plot, clearly motivated characters, and a breezy writing style, the author does an admirable and entertaining job of politicizing the Catholic priesthood experience with melodramatic flair and buzz. Brown’s memorable novel compassionately imparts themes of spirituality and love, examining how they intersect in modern life.

A well-written, affecting story of justice and love amidst the rigid strictures of conservative religion.