The Cabala

""Thornton Wilder's 1926 debut novel probes the inscrutable mystery of the ancient, fabulous wealth that confers a kind of immortality on its custodians, allowing their natures to form without concession or compromise to life beyond their privileged enclave. . . . [It] established Wilder as one of the most accomplished stylists of his generation."" —The Guardian

In The Cabala, Samuele, an American student, spends a year in the fabulously decadent world of post World War I Rome. He experiences first-hand the waning days of a secret community—a “cabala” composed of decaying European royalty, eccentric expatriate Americans, even a great cardinal of the Roman Church.