PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
For one who always envied those who belonged to that mysterious club, alas, whose secrets were never to be known unless one 'turned', Melvyn Morrow's hopefully largely fictional diary is a delight, a page-turner. Written with love and respect, I Confess chronicles a whole new world of religious shenanigans we Anglicans always suspected might lay beneath the worship of plaster saints. I Confess is a witty, wicked and strangely moving concoction of saints' days, liturgy, politics, family confession and dogma, all told with larrikin Australian humour, heaps of passion, sentimental care and astute observation. Saints be praised! -Stuart Maunder AM, Artistic Director Victoria Opera, formerly artistic director of State Opera of South Australia and New Zealand Opera. He has also directed for Opera Australia, West Australian Opera and Scottish Opera. God may well work in mysterious ways, but not as mysterious as those of the Vatican. Melvyn Morrow leaves no sin unstoned in this riveting expos� of the Roman Curia, the central administrative body of the Holy See and its satellites...John is a liberal and progressive pope walking a tightrope over a lion's den, following in the shoes of his predecessor, Francis. He causes a political sh*t storm by going so far as to propose a Third Vatican Council comprising the equal contribution of men, women and LGBTIQA+ so as to ensure that God's creatures are all represented. This is the only way, he believes, to replace the Club for Men With No Wives, founded on the rigid rock of discipline by the first pope and brutally maintained by his successors. This is a real page-turner, with startling dramatic clashes between the very top princes of the Church while we are taken on a radiant journey through the beautiful mind of a lost soul who finds himself in the hot seat of a global mission to win back the millions who have deserted the Catholic Faith and emptied its churches. This novel is robust, honest and moving. A must-read. -Justin Fleming, Australian playwright, librettist and author, has served as vice president of the Australian Writer's Guild and board member of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre.
