Fabiola; or, The Church of the Catacombs
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
A cardinal wrote this novel to show Catholics the Church of the martyrs, and it still does. Agnes, Sebastian, Pancratius and Tarcisius are heroes a teenager can love, and Fabiola's slow conversion is won by a slave's charity. The reservation is twofold. The torture and deaths are graphic, and the Victorian prose is slow and carries period caricatures of an African slave.
For parents
Read aloud from 12, skipping the antiquarian chapters. Independent reading from 13 or 14. Preview the deacon on the gridiron and the rack scene. Ask why Pancratius does not hit Corvinus back. Ask what Syra did, not said, that changed Fabiola. Tell your children which characters are real saints.