Cardinal — Henry morton robinson

An “absorbing . . . magnificent” novel about an ordinary Irish Catholic man who ascends the church hierarchy to become Cardinal in the early twentieth century. (Boston Herald)
 
A selection of the Literary Guild, The Cardinal was published in more than a dozen languages and sold over two million copies. Later made into an Academy Award-nominated film directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Huston, the book tells a story that captured the nation's attention: a working-class American's rise to become a cardinal of the Catholic Church. The daily trials and triumphs of Stephen Fermoyle, from the working-class suburbs of Boston, drive him to become first a parish priest, then secretary to a cardinal, later a bishop, and finally a wearer of the Red Hat. An essential work of American fiction that remains even more relevant today.
 
 “Extraordinary . . . controversial . . . first rate storytelling and characterization that has enormous appeal.” �"Kirkus Reviews