The Sin That Was His
1917
A man running from murder charges finds the perfect disguise: a priest. Assuming a holy man's identity to escape the law, he takes up residence in a remote parish, his every act a performance designed to maintain his cover. But something unexpected happens in the confessional, in the quiet moments of ministry, in the faces of those who see him as a man of God. The crook begins to believe in the role he plays. The mask becomes a face. What starts as the ultimate con becomes a genuine reckoning with the man he might have been. Packard's 1917 novel is a darkly sophisticated exploration of identity, sin, and the unsettling possibility that we can become the personas we perform. Set against the stark beauty of the early 20th century Canadian wilderness, this is a story about the costumes we wear and the selves that grow beneath them.
