John Donatich's first novel (after the memoir Ambivalence, a Love Story) explores the spiritual and secular life of an ordinary parish priest at a failing church in New Haven, Conn. The Variations is a tale not of scandal and abuse but rather of a contemplative middle-aged man, Father Dominic, who, after a lifetime of poverty, obedience and chastity, finds himself losing his faith and questioning his calling. He fears that, like his seldom driven 12-year-old Mercury Sable, he is "more likely to die of old age than experience."
When Dom's beloved mentor Father Carl dies, he finds himself alone in the crumbling church, where "abandoned scaffolding sat against the wall, stripped of optimism," left to comfort the dwindling neighborhood parishioners--including a scattered runaway girl, Dolores, who claims to be pregnant by Carl. In dealing with Dolores, Dom is forced to deal with his own doubts: "exhausted by the pressure to be responsive to her need, whole before her despair, orthodox in his guidance, agnostic before her sexuality."
Donatich engagingly balances Dom's erudite religious ruminations with Dolores's street vernacular, the talented black organist's repetitive practicing of Bach's "Goldberg Variations," and the Manhattan banter of the ambitious magazine editor who beds him in a mutual seduction after he takes a sabbatical to assess his future. The attraction of the secular eventually pulls Dom from the priesthood, but not before Donatich reminds us that the Catholic Church still offers a credible path for many who long for the commitment of faith. --Bruce Jacobs founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.