This week, on 'Talking Books', Susan will be talking with John Cornwell about his recent book ‘The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession’ (2014).
John is an investigative journalist and author. He is also a Fellow Commoner of Jesus College, in the University of Cambridge. He has received wide acclaim for a wide variety of works on religion and the Catholic Church, most notably ‘Hitler’s Pope’ (1999), which was a New York Times bestseller.
John was raised as a Roman Catholic and seemed set for a life in the Catholic Church. He trained to be a priest at Oscott College Seminary. However, he left before completing his training and studied in Oxford and Cambridge, earning a degree in English and literature. He abandoned his faith at this time, before eventually returning to religion in later life.
His latest book, ‘The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession’, deals with the history of confession and investigates how it has shaped Catholicism.
Cornwell approaches this issue with his typical level of colossal research, while he also leans upon his own experiences of the Church. At times it is a troubling read, but John’s skill at navigating the dark corners of Catholicism shines through. The result is a thorough account of the Catholic Church and its role in society, both today and in the future.
Is it natural to relieve the burden of sin? How has the act of confession changed since the early days of Catholicism? And is the act of confession becoming obsolete?
Join Susan to discover John’s thoughts on these compelling questions and much more.
Louis de Bernières
But first, in Part 1, Susan will be joined by Louis de Bernières, British novelist and poet, perhaps best known for his work ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ (1994). This book earned him wide acclaim and a great amount of notoriety. The book is set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during World War II. Through the characters of Antonio Corelli and Pelagia, the novel explores the intricacies of love and the impact of war. It also provides a certain amount of critique on the political ideologies that pervaded Europe at the time.
Louis’s adventurous nature was fostered early in his life as he joined the British Army at the age of 18, following the tradition of his father. Before long, his passion for writing took over and he attended university in Manchester and London before setting off to South America.
This resulted in Louis publishing his Latin American trilogy, based in Columbia. The first of these, ‘The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts’, was published in 1990, with the two sequels following in ’91 and ’92. As with ‘Captain Corelli’, which followed the trilogy, each book is rich in culture and pays homage to the environment within which it is set.
These novels were followed by ‘Red Dog’ (2002), ‘Birds Without Wings’ (2004) and ‘A Partisan’s Daughter’ (2008). Each was written in the same sophisticated style, with a variety of diverse settings investigated and treated with care and a great deal of research. He has also published poetry, which is where his focus currently lays.
Join Susan and Louis on ‘Talking Books’ as they chat about his life and career. How do the various cultures he has inhabited influence his work? Why does Louis need to immerse himself completely in his subject to write with passion and detail? And how has fatherhood changed his perspective on writing and life in general?
