Oddsfish!

by Robert Hugh Benson

Interwoven with the accurately portrayed events and places of the time are fictitious characters, including the narrator, Mr. Roger Mallock and his cousin and lady-love Dolly. Sent by Pope Innocent XI to Charles' court as a diplomatic representative of the Vatican, Mallock becomes a trusted confidant of the King and acts upon Charles's deathbed wish to give his confession to, and receive absolution from, a Catholic priest.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Catholic

380 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Mrsgr. Robert Hugh Benson AFSC KC*SG KGCHS was an English Catholic priest and writer. First an Anglican pastor, he was received into the Catholic Church in 1903 and ordained therein the next year. He was also a prolific writer of fiction, writing the notable dystopian novel Lord of the World, as well as Come Rack! Come Rope!.

His output encompassed historical, horror and science fiction, contemporary fiction, children's stories, plays, apologetics, devotional works and articles. He continued his writing career at the same time as he progressed through the hierarchy to become a Chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911, and gain the title of Monsignor before his death a few years later.

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the first half of the book, I thought that Robert Hugh Benson was not making a good end of his historical novels; by the end I was exerting all the strength I could spare from reading to keep my crying unnoticeable to the others in the room. I do not often cry while reading. It takes very skillful, very true writing to bring me to tears. Therefore I give this story five stars. Read it. I can't say much without giving away the ending, but let's just say that it gives one a lot to think about! I reverse my first impression and declare that Robert Hugh Benson is solid gold to the very end.

[The Hofs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This only appealed to me while in the depths of boredom of summer. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. My entire family was adequately impressed with Robert Hugh Benson, the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury who was also an Anglican priest before he converted to Catholicism. If you can find it, read it! You wont be disapointed.

[Chris Fellows · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story cannot quite bear the weight of all the research, and staggers under masses of information and a cast of thousands of name-dropped historical figures. If the title character had been more glancingly associated with the intrigues of the later years of Charles II's reign, and had more of an arc of his own, it would have been much more satisfactory, methinks.
Poor Dolly! It was obvious from the start that she was doomed and the narrator would end up a monk. Also, has anyone else noticed that the fathers in Msgr. Benson's novels are either absent or dreadful? I can't recall any decent ones.