Plot summary

A priest finds himself on the run from the Spanish Republicans, who accuse priests of indoctrinating their followers against them. The priest slips into a cabaret to hide and meets a young girl, an entertainer in the club. His commitment to the priesthood is wavering due to the persecution he suffers and he begins to fall for her. Both of them wind up being arrested.

Meanwhile, both sides are searching for a sacred relic that is believed to have miraculous powers - it is said to have helped defeat Napoleon. Each side wants it for its own reasons. The relic ends up in the priest’s possession.

The Spanish Republicans have been lionized for decades for their struggle against Franco

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

’s pre-war alliance with fascism. The novel reveals an under-publicized truth - that the Spanish Republicans singled out religious targets and many harmless middle class targets and killed or persecuted them. It depicts the Republicans running areas under their control along Stalinist lines.
The novel was the basis of the 1960 film The Angel Wore Red

The Angel Wore Red

The Angel Wore Red, also known as La Sposa Bella in its Italian version, is a 1960 Italian-American romantic war drama made by MGM and Titanus. It was directed by Nunnally Johnson and produced by Goffredo Lombardo, from a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson based on the 1953 novel The Fair Bride by...

starring Ava Gardner

Ava Gardner

Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...

, Dirk Bogarde

Dirk Bogarde

Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...

, Joseph Cotten

Joseph Cotten

Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...

 and Vittorio De Sica

Vittorio de Sica

Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....

, which was the last film directed by Nunnally Johnson

Nunnally Johnson

Nunnally Hunter Johnson was an American filmmaker who wrote, produced, and directed motion pictures.Johnson was born in Columbus, Georgia. He began his career as a journalist, writing for the Columbus Enquirer Sun, the Savannah Press, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and the New York Herald Tribune...

.