Mass for Arras

A medieval outbreak of witch-burning and anti-Semitism provides the basis for Polish novelist Szczypiorski's stunning political allegory of the ever-present danger of totalitarianism. The PEN Club Award-winning author depicts this historical episode through the eyes of the guilt-ridden Jan, a Christian intellectual who participates in the mass hysteria but later escapes the herd mentality after he finds himself suspected of heresy. This resonant story is a timely meditation on crimes committed in the name of religion and on the misplaced faith the ruled place in their rulers. The translation preserves the pungent medieval atmosphere, evoking a mindset that, the author implies, is very much alive today. -- Publishers Weekly