The Priests (James M Miller, Finch Publishing)

In this harrowing memoir, James Miller, a successful solicitor and academic author, describes a young adulthood stolen and a life spent in hell. In 1978, at the age of 15, Miller attended Sydney’s Pius X Secondary College. The Principal was Father Thomas Brennan. During his first year Miller was sexually abused on three occasions by Father Brennan. Academically gifted, athletic and assertive, Miller managed to fight off further attempts at abuse. However, trying to put the events behind him would prove to be impossible. Brennan would dog him through his adult life, trying to secure guarantees of silence. The pressure to maintain this secret, over many decades, eventually resulted in Miller’s mental collapse. Lucid and urgent, The Priests describes the devastating anguish that victims of institutional sexual abuse must suffer for decades. Forced to live a lie and protect the church, consumed with shame and self-loathing, ever fearful of exposure, the result is severe mental illness, sometimes suicide. Miller’s memoir offers a candid and arresting statement of his own descent into madness, an intelligent analysis of the church’s role in covering up abuse, and a heart-wrenching cry for help. It is a painful story, but one that offers hope for survivors.

Chris Saliba is co-owner of North Melbourne Books and a freelance reviewer

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