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.

he paints of these characters, whom he views as the vestigial representatives

of the gods and goddesses of Ancient Rome, launched Wilder’s career as a

celebrated storyteller and literary stylist.