THE CABALA

Narrator Tristan Morris brings a youthful confidence to this wonderfully gentle, erudite, and satirical tour of a fanciful early-twentieth-century Rome. An American student of the classics spends a year abroad and happens upon a secretive mystical society of aristocratic misfits called "The Cabala." Morris is at his best providing broad comic Italian accents to a menagerie of eccentric characters ranging from the sweet Duchess d'Aquilanera to the lovesick Princess Alix d'Espoli and the spiritually challenged Cardinal Vaini. First published in 1926, Wilder's debut novel is a fine mix of send-ups of classical myth, high society, and Puritan values. Plus, the book acted as the opening fanfare of an author who would be beloved and celebrated for years to come. B.P. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2020]