Office of Innocence (34 page)

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas Keneally
has won international acclaim for his novels
Schindler's List
(the basis for the movie and winner of the Booker prize),
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Confederates, Gossip from the Forest, The Playmaker, Woman of the Inner Sea,
and
A River Town,
and his recent works
The Great Shame and the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World
and
American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles
. He resides in Sydney, Australia.

Also by Thomas Keneally

FICTION

Schindler's List

The Place at Whitton

The Fear

Bring Larks and Heroes

Three Cheers for the Paraclete

The Survivor

A Dutiful Daughter

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

Blood Red, Sister Rose

Gossip from the Forest

Season in Purgatory

A Victim of the Aurora

Passenger

Confederates

The Cut-Rate Kingdom

A Family Madness

The Playmaker

To Asmara

Flying Hero Class

Woman of the Inner Sea

A River Town

NONFICTION

American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious

Civil War General Dan Sickles

The Great Shame and the Triumph of the Irish

in the English-Speaking World

Outback

Now and in Time to Come

The Place Where Souls Are Born:

The Journey to the Southwest

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Ned Kelly and the City of Bees

COPYRIGHT

Published by NAN A. TALESE

an imprint of DOUBLEDAY

a division of Random House, Inc.

DOUBLEDAY is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Keneally, Thomas.

Office of innocence / Thomas Keneally.— 1st ed. in the U.S.A.

p. cm.

1. World War, 1939–1945—Australia—Fiction.  2. Belief and doubt—Fiction.  3. Catholic Church—Fiction.  4. Australia—Fiction.  5. Murder—Fiction.  6. Clergy—Fiction.  I. Title.

PR9619.3.K46 O37 2003

823'.914—dc21

2002073653

Copyright © 2002 by The Serpentine Publishing Co., Pty.

All Rights Reserved.

First published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton Publishers and in Australia by Random House Australia

eISBN: 978-1400079063

v3.0