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A man arrives at Larkwood Monastery claiming sanctuary. Edward Schwermann is accused of Nazi war crimes: the chances are he's stained with blood, but politics demand that Larkwood shelter him. And Schwermann has intimated that the Church offered him sanctuary once before, during the war. It is this potentially embarrassing claim which brings Father Anselm onto centre stage. Once a lawyer, Anselm is sanctioned to make discreet enquiries in Rome, but as he edges towards the truth behind Schwermann's crimes, his renewed contact with the outside world threatens to overwhelm his fragile spiritual identity. For Agnes Embleton, seeing Schwermann's face on the television has brought back a flood of memories: of Paris, of The Round Table, a group of idealistic students who tried to save thousands of Jewish children from deportation, of the Frenchman who betrayed them and of Schwermann, the German officer who sent the children to their deaths. But what Agnes doesn't know and Anselm discovers is the personal investment Schwermann had in The Round Table, the silent bargains made by its members and the true extent of Schwermann's final treachery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

The Sixth Lamentation
This book, The Sixth Lamentation, and its companion books,The Gardens of the Dead, and A Whispered Name, were charming on two counts--elegant and beautiful prose, which cannot fail to please--and then, the carefully wrought plots, each one presenting our Father Anselm with a conundrum that only he--with his double expertise of priest and lawyer--can solve. They felt very true, and there was none of that perverse befuddlement of the reader that is so daunting in some of the modern authors I (attempt to) read. I loved the depiction of the contemplative religious life--absolutely foreign to me, but as a vision of peace and tranquility, it was very compelling. Not to mention the gathering of the orchard fruits, the bee keeping, the lovely country scenes. One of the phrases -in the Lamentations book--keeps recurring to me; referring to Anselm's occasional vision of God: "And sometimes, the Lord of the Dance brushed by". It struck me as a particularly apt way of describing his accidental access of grace.

Overall, a decent effort
The first half, or so, of T6L was squarely in 5-star territory: very fine writing (esp. for a novel of its genre), terrific pacing, great character development.As the novel wore on, however, I found WB's style of writing a bit too forced and florid; the interweaving storylines increasingly confusing, especially as they converged at the novel's end.On balance, I'd rate this a very decent first novel, and I credit WB for dealing sensitively -- rather than sensationalistically -- with the historical matter at the core of the book.T6L was a quick, easy, and at times thought-provoking read.I'd read WB again.

"Once you've heard a child cry out to heaven for help, and go unanswered, nothing's ever the same again.Even God changes."
The plot of "The 6th Lamentation" is comprised of two intertwined stories.In present-day England, an elderly man escaping persecution seeks sanctuary in Larkwood Priory.Through a document given to him anonymously, a journalist identifies the man as Eduard Schwermann, an SS officer in occupied France during WWII.It is alleged that Schwermann was a war criminal; complicit in the deportation to Auschwitz of Jewish refugees and Jewish French citizens.It later surfaces that the Church may have aided Schwermann and a collaborator in escaping to England after the war.Concerned by how the Church would be perceived by these events, the Vatican orders an investigation, and Father Anselm, a former lawyer who is now a monk at Larkwood, is tasked with discovering the veracity of these allegations as well as the collaborator's present whereabouts.

Meanwhile, an elderly woman, Agnes Embleton, has just been told that she's terminally ill.One day she sees Schwermann's face on the evening news and decides it's time to reveal what she knows about him.She begins to write about her experiences during the war, particularly that of a group called the Round Table.Agnes and other youths in this group were entrusted with the task of smuggling Jewish children out of France to neutral Switzerland.Someone betrayed the Round Table, revealing its existence and its participants to Schwermann.Consequently, the group's members were rounded up and later perished in Auschwitz, but by a stroke of luck, Agnes survived.She passes her writings on to her granddaughter, Lucy, who becomes consumed by a quest for justice on Agnes' behalf.

The writing here is so assured one would think William Brodrick's "The 6th Lamentation" came to being already fully-formed.I was impressed with his intelligent and fluent prose, especially since this was Mr. Brodrick's debut novel.He incorporates history with the lives of his characters so skillfully that I often forgot this was fiction.As it turns out, I later read an interview with the author where he said that his own mother, who'd passed away, was herself part of a group that smuggled Jewish children to safety during the occupation of Holland.Her memory of what the Nazis did remained fresh in her mind until she passed on.The character of Father Anselm could be based on the author himself, he having left the monastery to become a barrister.No doubt those experiences are reflected in the story, making it richer and more personal.Its title, too, is not merely creative but also meaningful.Based on the poems known as the Five Lamentations of Jeremiah, which bemoan the destruction of Jerusalem, the 6th Lamentation, in Mr. Brodrick's interpretation, is the Holocaust.

The story, though, has many threads that one has to patiently follow and comprehend in order to fully appreciate its conclusion.The plot is not linear; constantly moving from past to present and back, however, each chapter is a revelation that brings the reader closer to the truths our protagonists are seeking.By the time the pieces come together, the whole story makes perfect sense, though it requires devoted attention and patience.

One of the things that may bother readers about this is that the first half moves rather slowly, but I believe it was necessary to explore the characters and early events in great depth to grasp the motivations of its characters in the latter half.The resolutions are surprising and most of the conclusions one would naturally make are proven quite wrong.However, there are some coincidences and a few plot contrivances.Notwithstanding, it is an absorbing story that imparts some unexpected nuggets of wisdom, and a commendable first effort.

get ready to be glued to this book
A tale of two readers.My mom liked the book but ended up skimming through the middle.The first time I experienced this story was as a book on CD in the car.I was tortured every time I had to get out of the car.I loved it so much I read the book in print soon after.My only issue was that the story was so rich and deep and intense that it could have easily been a series.It left me wanting more details.I wanted to get more involved with some of the characters, to 'know them' more, 'understand' them more. I bought a copy for 1 cent because I know I'll read it again sometime.

A Heart Wrenching Tale that Draws the Reader in to Its Moral Dilemmas
This book is out of print but Amazon still found a copy for me.I picked it up because I liked the author's second book enough to go back and read his first.The important thing to understand is that Brodrick is not writing whodunnits.It is not an action/adventure mystery.No doubt I like his writing because I, too, am a lawyer who sometimes wonders about the spiritual aspects of what I do.Brodrick presents us with difficult moral choices and traces the outcome of decisions.The heros are not always as heroic as we think they are and the bad guys may have redeeming virtues just like in real life, and, like in real life, it is difficult to figure it all out.There is a lot of meandering made necessary by the examination of the moral questions.One of the satisfactions of detective fiction is that the bad guys get caught.That usually happens here too.Only for the morally reflective ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: Clark ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Stephen King, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Fanny Fern, James Flavin, Mike Brown, Ian Crocker, Anna Kendrick, Henry Longfellow, Andrea Martin, Edward Sylvester Morse, Greenleaf Whittier Pickard, Phyllis Thaxter, John Neal, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Nicholas Wyman, Francis Ford, Kevin Eastman, Hiram Abrams, Owen Davis, John Frothingham. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Stephen Edwin King, plus connu sous le nom de Stephen King, est un écrivain américain né le 21 septembre 1947 à Portland, dans le Maine (États-Unis). Il a écrit plus de deux cents textes, dont plus de cinquante romans d'horreur ou fantastiques, qui ont été vendus à plus de 350 millions d'exemplaires de par le monde. Il reçoit en 2003 la médaille de la National Book Foundation pour sa remarquable contribution à la littérature américaine et, en 2007, l'association des auteurs de romans policiers américains Mystery Writers of America lui décerne le titre de « grand master ». King possède une grande connaissance de la littérature d'horreur, comme on peut le voir dans son essai Anatomie de l'horreur qui retrace plusieurs décennies d'un intérêt prononcé pour l'épouvante à travers la littérature, le cinéma, la télévision et la radio. Il a aussi écrit des ouvrages appartenant à d'autres genres comme les recueils de nouvelles Différentes Saisons, ou Cœurs perdus en Atlantide, et les romans La Ligne verte, Les Yeux du dragon, et son magnum opus, la série La Tour sombre. Dans le passé, Stephen King a écrit sous les noms de Richard Bachman et John Swithen (une seule fois sous ce dernier pseudonyme pour la nouvelle le Cinquième Quart publiée par la suite dans Rêves et Cauchemars). Stephen King a deux ans lorsque son père, Donald Edwin King, abandonne...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Chapters: Stephen King, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Preston, Liv Tyler, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Christopher Levett, Charles M. Loring, George Baker Leavitt, Sr., Mike Brown, Howie Carr, William Henry O'connell, Ian Crocker, Ashley Day Leavitt, Fanny Fern, Anna Kendrick, Stuart Saunders Smith, Lois Lowry, Linda Lavin, Annie Proulx, Bill Chinnock, Victoria Rowell, John Joubert, William W. Thomas, Jr, Judd Nelson, Jesse Forbes, Alexander Parris, Brett Somers, James Augustine Healy, John Bunting, John Neal, Brian Mailhot, Edward Preble, John Calvin Stevens, Nik Caner-Medley, Vincent L. Mckusick, Andrea Martin, Caroline Duby Glassman, Alvin Morell Bentley, Peleg Wadsworth, John B. Curtis, Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis, Hiram Abrams, James Alden, Jr., Maurice K. Goddard, John Holmes, Mildred Gillars, Quinton Porter, Roger Levesque, Albion K. Parris, Bebe Buell, Edward Gurney, Percival Proctor Baxter, James Phinney Baxter, Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn, Steve Letarte, Francis H. Fassett, George F. Shepley, Dan Seavey, William Cranch Bond, Edward S. Morse, Francis Ford, Elizabeth Prentiss, Betsy Sholl, George Preble, Joseph E. Brennan, Joe Petagno, Harry Brown, Sidney Perham, Greenleaf Whittier Pickard, Prentiss Mellen, Elijah Kellogg, Samuel Colman, Thomas J. Mcmahon, Owen Davis, Ether Shepley, Horatio Collins King, George T. Davis, Bill Swift, Frederick Hale, Macon Bolling Allen, James Brooks, James Flavin, Lincoln Peirce, Bob Stanley, Nathaniel Gordon, John H. Hall, Mark Erelli, James Otis Kaler, Phyllis Thaxter, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Conrad Chase, Nancy Cartonio, Dan Davis, Alan Taylor, Nathaniel M. Haskell, Bob Marley, Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, Jr., Daniel Joseph Feeney, Harriet Winslow Sewall, Alexander S. Wadsworth, Candy Nelson, Daniel Clement Colesworthy, G. Steven Rowe, Kid Madden, Tony Franklin, James C. Oliver, Francis Pettygrove, Kyle Rankin, Henry B. Cleaves, Oakley C. Curtis, Tim Stauffer, Willia...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=26954 ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Humphrey Gilbert, Nathaniel Parker-Forth, John Donne, Richard Grenville, Robert Dudley, George de Carteret, Geoffrey Chaucer, Henry Sidney, Charles Townshend, William Latimer, Sidney Godolphin, John Rushworth, Ferdinando Fairfax, William Warham, Paul Foot, Hugues le Despenser, William de Wykeham, William Wickham, Jamie Shea, Henry Hyndman, John Burns, Wat Tyler, Daniel Finch, William Brewer, James Stanhope, Henry Sacheverell, Christopher Newbury, Robert Bruce Cotton, Robert Tresilian, Robert Cecil, Jean de Bailleul, Édouard Montagu, Victor Bulwer-Lytton, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, William Drury, Stewart Headlam, Thomas Thynne, Lord Grand Connétable D'angleterre, Enoch Powell, Richard Cromwell, Herbert Samuel, Édouard Poynings, Joseph Arch, Herbert Burrows, Titus Oates, Nicolas Brembre, George Granville, Thomas Smith, Thomas Ier Stanley de Man, William Cavendish, Hubert Bland, Edmond de Lancastre, Laurence Oliphant, William Walworth, Algernon Sydney, William Russell, Pierre de Rivaux, George Calvert, John Pym, Thomas Wharton, John Horne Tooke, Lionel Cranfield Sackville, Anthony Babington, Robert Catesby, John Thurloe, George Digby, Henry Vane, Richard Whittington, Robert Dinwiddie, Shaun Woodward, Everard Digby, Hardinge Giffard, Edward Sexby, Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys, William Baker, Thomas Pitt. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Sir Humphrey Gilbert (né dans le Devon vers 1537 - disparu en mer le 9 septembre 1583) est un officier et explorateur anglais qui servit sous le règne d'Élisabeth Ière. Pionnier de la colonisation anglaise, il a, le premier, pris possession d'une terre au nom de la couronne d'Angleterre en Amérique du Nord. Il était, par sa mère, demi-frère de Walter Raleigh. Portrai...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Lyndon Larouche, Bell Hooks, Robert Ingersoll, John Burroughs, James Russell Lowell, Luc Sante, G. Edward Griffin, Christopher Lasch, T. Hariri, Eustace Mullins, Peter J. D'adamo, Lester R. Brown, Jared Diamond, Texe Marrs, Chris Crawford, Thomas Frank, Richard Hoagland, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, Michael Hardt, William Schnoebelen, John Salza, Ellen Hodgson Brown, Peter Biskind, Ian Bogost, Jim Marrs, Gary H. Kah, Michael Albert, James Shelby Downard, Constance Cumbey, Manning Johnson, Herbert Reginbogin, David Ovason, Stephen J. Sniegoski, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Michael A. Hoffman, Marshall Masters, Bella Dodd, Mary Stewart Relfe, G. William Domhoff, John Edward Decker, Ezra Asher Cook, Douglas Rushkoff, Joseph Trento, Ronald D. Mclaurin, James Von Brunn, Sylvester Graham, Stephen P. Halbrook, Leonard Horowitz, Vincent Gaddis, William Henry, Paul Berman, Joseph Borkin, William F. Jasper, Robert Dreyfuss, Robert Christgau, Chuck Klosterman, Molly Ivins. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Joseph Eugene Stiglitz est un économiste américain né le 9 février 1943 qui reçut le prix de la Banque de Suède en sciences économiques en mémoire d'Alfred Nobel en 2001 (pour un travail commun avec George Akerlof et Michael Spence). Il est un des fondateurs et un des représentants les plus connus du « nouveau keynésianisme ». Il a acquis sa notoriété populaire à la suite de ses violentes critiques envers le FMI et la Banque mondiale, émises peu après son départ de la Banque mondiale en 2000, alors qu'il y était économiste en chef. Parmi les recherches les plus connues de Stiglitz figure la théorie du screening, qui vise à obtenir de l'informati...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Charles Baudelaire, Les Aventures D'arthur Gordon Pym, Rufus Griswold, Virginia Poe, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Cryptologie Dans le Scarabée D'or, Influence Littéraire D'edgar Allan Poe, William Henry Poe, Edgar Allan Poe Dans La Culture Populaire, Frances Sargent Osgood, Influence D'edgar Allan Poe, Sarah Helen Whitman, Elizabeth Poe, Prix Edgar Allan Poe, George Rex Graham, Broadway Journal, William Evans Burton, le Corbeau, Charles Frederick Briggs, le Puits et le Pendule (Téléfilm, 1964), Sarah Elmira Royster, Histoires Extraordinaires, Rosalie Poe, William Wilson, Nouvelles Histoires Extraordinaires, Annabel Lee, Les Cloches, Histoires Grotesques et Sérieuses. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Les Aventures d'Arthur Gordon Pym (The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket) est le titre de l'unique roman achevé par Edgar Allan Poe, publié en 1838 aux États-Unis et en Angleterre. Charles Baudelaire en donne une première traduction française en 1858. Présenté par ses éditeurs comme le récit d'un authentique voyage de découverte aux confins inexplorés de l'océan Antarctique, l'ouvrage a été éreinté par la critique anglo-américaine lors de sa parution et quasiment renié plus tard par son auteur. Baudelaire lui-même exprima initialement des réserves face à ce roman d'aventures exubérant, non dénué d'invraisemblances et de défauts de construction, qui par la suite impressionna profondément des lecteurs tels que Jorge Luis Borges, Jules Verne, Howard Phillips Lovecraft ou encore Gaston Bachelard. L'odyssée énigmatique d'Arthur G. Pym, le mystère qui plane autour de sa disparition au large du pôle sud, ainsi que la nature de la « silhouette voilée » qui clôt le récit ont par ailleurs donné lieu aux...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Edgar Allan Poe, Rufus Griswold, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Fredric Jameson, Leonard Nathan, Edmund Wilson, Janice Radway, Daniel Mendelsohn, Harold Bloom, Randall Jarrell, Logan Pearsall Smith, Thomas Pavel, John Neal, Lillian Faderman, Avital Ronell, Cathleen Schine, Michael Hardt, Ruth Klüger, Kristin Ross, Homi Bhabha, Gerald Nicosia, Elaine Showalter, Irving Howe, Michiko Kakutani, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Wayne Booth. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Edgar Poe (Boston, 19 janvier 1809 - Baltimore, 7 octobre 1849) est un poète, romancier, nouvelliste, critique littéraire, dramaturge et éditeur américain, ainsi que l'une des principales figures du romantisme américain. Connu surtout pour ses contes - genre dont la brièveté lui permet de mettre en valeur sa théorie de l'effet, suivant laquelle tous les éléments du texte doivent concourir à la réalisation d'un effet unique - il a donné à la nouvelle ses lettres de noblesse et est considéré comme l'inventeur du roman policier. Nombre de ses récits préfigurent les genres de la science-fiction et du fantastique. Né à Boston, Edgar Poe perd ses parents dans sa petite enfance ; il est recueilli par John et Frances Allan de Richmond, en Virginie, où il passe l'essentiel de ses jeunes années, si l'on excepte un séjour en Angleterre et en Écosse, dans une aisance relative. Après un bref passage à l'Université de Virginie et des tentatives de carrière militaire, Poe quitte les Allan. Sa carrière littéraire débute humblement par la publication anonyme d'un recueil de poèmes intitulés Tamerlan et autres poèmes (1827), signés seulement « par un Bostonien ». Poe s'installe à Baltimore, où il vit auprès de sa famille paternelle et abandonne quelque peu la poé...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more