The Devil's Advocate

The book that propelled Morris West to international fame, The Devil's Advocate is a moving exploration of the meaning of faith, and a vivid portrayal of life in impoverished post-war Calabria. In an impoverished village in southern Italy, the enigmatic life and mysterious death of Giacomo Nerone has inspired talk of sainthood. Father Blaise Meredith, a dying English priest, is sent by the Vatican to investigate. As he tries to untangle the web of facts, rumours and outright lies that surround Nerone, The Devil's Advocate reminds us how the power of goodness ultimately prevails over despair. The Devil's Advocate was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the W.H. Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature, and was made into a film. It sold three million copies in its first two years and remains one of Morris West's most popular novels. 'A reading experience of real emotional intensity.' The New York Times Book Review 'An engrossing story, expertly told, about a set of fascinating people.' Chicago Sunday Tribune 'Brilliant and deeply disturbing.' The Daily Telegraph *The Devil's Advocate*, Morris West's best-selling novel, is a deft exploration of the meaning of faith. In an impoverished village in southern Italy, the life and death of Giacomo Nerone has inspired talk of saint­hood. Father Blaise Meredith, a dying English priest, is sent from the Vatican to investigate—and to try to untangle the web of facts, rumors, and outright lies that surround Nerone's life and death. With spiritual frailty as a backdrop, *The Devil's Advocate* reminds us how the power of goodness ultimately prevails over despair. A dying English priest is dispatched from Rome as a canonical inquisitor in order to investigate the cult of sainthood that has grown around Giacomo Nerone, a young local man who was killed by Communists toward the end of the Second World War. Nerone was beloved by the local people while he was alive; after his death, they proclaimed him a saint. At the beginning of the novel, Rome opens an investigation into the matter in the desolate town of Calabria in Southern Italy