Books by James Carroll

From National Book Award-winning writer James Carroll comes a novel of the timeless love story of Peter Abelard and Héloïse, and its impact on a modern priest and a Holocaust survivor seeking sanctuary in Manhattan.Father Michael Kavanagh is shocked when he sees a friend from his seminary days at the altar of his humble parish in upper Manhattan—a friend who was forced to leave under scandalous circumstances. Compelled to reconsider the past, Father Kavanagh wanders into the medieval haven of the Cloisters and stumbles into a conversation with a lovely and intriguing docent, Rachel Vedette.Having survived the Holocaust and escaped to America, Rachel remains obsessed with her late father’s greatest scholarly achievement: a study demonstrating the relationship between the famously discredited monk Peter Abelard and Jewish scholars. Feeling an odd connection with Father Kavanagh, Rachel shares with him the work that cost her father his life.At the center of these interrelated stories is the classic romance between the great philosopher Abelard and his intellectual equal, Héloïse. For Rachel, Abelard is the key to understanding her people’s place in history. And for Father Kavanagh, the controversial theologian may be a doorway to understanding the life he himself might have had outside the Church.

Since the downturn of the construction industry, James Carroll has been looking for new ways to earn a living. He has tried a few different projects, but, having been involved in the construction for 30 years, he was finding it hard to adjust. That was until he came across some notes he had written some years before, when he had wanted to write but did not have the time. He had been accused, at the time, of stealing a jacket from a trader on Portabello Road and had successfully conducted his own investigation and proved his innocence. Being involved in construction he was unable to get time to write properly. But now the opportunity had presented itself again and James decided to give writing another try.After all it should be in his blood as his father had penned some plays for the local theatre group as well as writing some well known poetry. It was therefore fitting that James should continue his work and to dedicate his writings to his late fathers memory.