The Diary of a Country Priest
Recommended. Age: 17+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
This is the best portrait of a priest's heart in modern fiction. The curé looks like a failure to everyone, himself included, and yet grace pours through him into the hardest soul in the parish. His last words are that all is grace. The reservation is darkness. He prays through long desolation, a doctor takes his own life, and a count's adultery poisons his home.
For parents
Adults, and thoughtful readers of 17 and up. Not a read-aloud. It is slow and interior. Ask why the priest cannot see the good he does. Ask how he brings the countess back to God after her child's death. Good reading for a young man discerning priesthood.