Book review: Fallen: The inside story of the secret trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell

Courtney from Endeavour Hills Library brings us her review of Fallen: The inside story of the secret trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell/ Lucie Morris-Marr

Fallen is a fascinating and insightful read into the trial of Cardinal George Pell, at the time the third highest ranking member of the Catholic Church and indeed the highest ranking Australian official.

On June 29th 2017 the world was shocked when it learnt that Cardinal George Pell had been charged by Victoria Police for historic child sex abuse offenses. A defiant Pell proclaimed his innocence and returned to Australia to face the charges. It was a story that rocked the world but it was one that would soon go dark. Under a suppression order all details of the trial were kept under wraps, indeed the first we heard of it again was in December 2018 when a number of Australian paper published headlines alluding to but not confirming that the Cardinal had been found guilty. Now for the first time Morris-Marr reveals what really happened in those 18 months, she takes the reader through the evidence presented, the trial process, the history of child sexual abuse in the catholic church, the history of Cardinal Pell himself and the emotional toll of being involved as a reporter on such an important story.

Fallen gives the reader a front row seat to what has to be the trial of the century. The book is confronting and shocking in what it reveals but its importance can’t not be ignored in a time when society is rising up and saying no to abuse of any kind.

Place a hold on your copy of Fallen on our catalogue: https://bit.ly/2VVtTnQ