Kabbalah

Soon after the end of World War I, a young American student arrives in Rome and finds himself among a motley group of American expatriates, high-ranking officials of the Catholic Church, and idle representatives of European aristocracy, who are members of a secret society, the infamous "Kabbalah," whose members are used to thinking they know the answers to all questions. However, their knowledge and worldview soon begin to contradict the moral values of the protagonist… Already in "Kabbalah," his debut novel, Wilder demonstrated the skills of a brilliant storyteller and playwright and first addressed themes that would be present in one form or another throughout his entire work.