The Cabala

By Thornton Wilder and Penelope Niven

Wilder’s first novel, originally published in 1926, explores the self-consciously decadent world of Rome after World War I. Its protagonist – Samuele, an American student – is drawn into the declining days of the titular secret community, composed of decaying European royalty, eccentric expatriate Americans, and even a cardinal of the Roman church. Wilder playfully presents these characters as the vestigial representatives of Roman gods and goddesses.

A semi-autobiographical novel of unforgettable characters and human passion, The Cabala launched Wilder’s career as a celebrated storyteller and dramatist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stacey Publishing Limited
• Release date: Sep 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781907429460

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works, exploring the connection between the commonplace and cosmic dimensions of human experience, continue to be read and produced around the world. His Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of seven novels, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, as did two of his four full-length dramas, Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1943). Wilder's The Matchmaker was adapted as the musical Hello, Dolly! He also enjoyed enormous success with many other forms of the written and spoken word, among them teaching, acting, the opera, and films. (His screenplay for Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt [1943] remains a classic psycho-thriller to this day.) Wilder's many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Committee's Medal for Literature.

Reviews for The Cabala

[dbsovereign · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not my favorite Wilder, but interesting glimpse into the world of expats in Rome. Fantastical plot with some insight into what it's like to be an expat (and what a small world it becomes once you're in a foreign country).

[jeffome · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

ok.....for starters, this book had no quotation marks......not sure i have ever read something without them, but it was an adjustment. Expatriates from all over convening on Rome take a young New England scholar into their high social circles giving him a year he'll remember for some time! Also a bit of a thinking book....lots of dialogue about Catholicism and royalty and the reincarnation of sorts of Roman Gods, all of this making for a bit of an effort for me beyond my desire for a pleasurable read. Wilder won 3 different Pulitzer Prizes, 1 for a novel and 2 for plays, so as always, i started at the beginning. This was his first, and i'll not hold that against him at this point. It was a quick read, but nothing that really grabbed me in any way. One hopes that experience for Wilder led to more stimulating work.....I'll keep you posted!

[veracite · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much more enjoyable than other reviews led me to expect but the end was a bit baffling. Perhaps I'm missing some context?

[slickdpdx · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow. Having encountered too many amateur productions of Our Town, I overlooked Thornton Wilder. This economically written and closely observed novel follows a young American, Samuel, who arrives in Rome in the early 1920s and gains entry to a small high society group of royalist dead-enders (the Cabala of the title.) Through the ladies of the Cabala, Samuel encounters, in a very personal and immediate fashion, areas of crisis between the new and old worlds (not only in the sense of Europe and the Americas, but also - and probably more importantly - in the sense of the 19th century world and the 20th.)