Up Next, a New Novel: Ceremony of Innocence

I don't often write about books before I read them, but I'm making an exception because I'm so excited to read this one: Ceremony of Innocence, the newest novel released from Ignatius Press. I'm just sharing from the press release here, because (a) there's a lot of other stuff to do this week and (b) it's well-done so...here you go. :)

Riots, terrorist attacks, and neo-Nazi violence take center stage in the debut novel Ceremony of Innocence by Dorothy Cummings McLean.

Ceremony of Innocence is set in modern-day Germany, where journalist Catriona McClelland has seen it all while covering the contemporary European scene for a Catholic news organization. Keeping herself above the political fray in her professional life, she has also managed to keep herself from personal entanglements. Things come to a head when her boyfriend Dennis, frustrated with a lack of commitment, leaves her for Suzy Davis, an idealistic young Canadian who is involved with a left-wing protest movement. But when Suzy is murdered . . . who is complicit and who is innocent?

Ripped from the headlines, Ceremony of Innocence is a very contemporary novel of Europe on the edge of social breakdown. Train stations are bombed and migrants targeted for violence as journalists and other tastemakers watch from their positions of privilege.

Dorothy Cummings McLean’s realistic narrative does not describe the feats of heroes. Rather, it unnervingly lays bare the way religious faith and moral reasoning can be easily manipulated and compromised.

Order Ceremony of Innocence and support CatholicMom.com with your purchase.

Be sure to check out our Book Notes archive.