Second Spring: A Love Story (Family Saga)

asked by localhost on November 22, 2006 8:22 AM

It's 1978 and the whole country, exhausted from the twin traumas of Vietnam and Watergate, seems to be suffering from a massive hangover. Chucky O'Malley knows how the country feels; approaching fifty, he finds himself in the grip of a debilitating mid-life crisis. He hasn't lost his faith, exactly, but he does feel disillusioned and depressed. As he travels the world, Chucky searches for a way to renew his weary spirit.Fortunately, he doesn't have to face this challenge alone. With the loving support of his family, and especially his irrepressible and adoring wife, Rosemarie, he just might rediscover his lost hope and optimism in time for a Second Spring. . . .

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Reviews

It is a lovely book. I enjoy all the references to characters from other novels, it's like visiting friends. I also like it when Fr. Greeley uses his experiences as part of the story.

I enjoyed the historical aspects and insights, both secular and those about the Catholic Church.

But I especially enjoy Rosemary and Chucky's love story. It is fun and touching.

patricia

reviewed by harrypotter on November 28, 2006 11:27 PM

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Revisiting the crazy O'Malley clan he recently created, Father Greeley tells us the story of Chuck and his beloved Rosemaire and the events that they were part of in the last years of the seventies.

Chuck has been sent to Vatican city to witness and photograph the election of the new pope. He watches as politics shape the church, then is called to the White House where he meets President Carter and is witness to national crises. However, the national and worldwide events pale compared to the desolation that is in Chuck's heart. A thriving career and beautiful wife just are not enough to satisfy him. Divine intervention alone will restore his joy.

**** Lovingly told, this story will enchant readers familiar with the series, but new readers will most likely be a bit lost. However, new or old, you can not miss or fail to be charmed by Father Greeley's warm writing style that plays out events casually, but still has a profound message. Particularly engaging is the way he has divine figures show up in such a friendly manner.

reviewed by avi on November 29, 2006 12:44 PM

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Happily married to his beloved Rosemarie and father to five adult children and three grandchildren that he adores and loves Charles "Chucky" Cronin still worries about the future. He remains a faithful Catholic, but wonders if perhaps the church abandoned its flock. He contemplates whether he is just suffering from a biological occurrence for someone turning fifty or a reaction to continual racial inequality, assassinations, priestly wrongdoing, Viet Nam and Watergate? Rosemary worries about much of the same agenda, but also is concerned with Chucky, who seems to have lost his step.

Chucky, a professional photographer and former ambassador, soon regains much of his sixties and early seventies fervor that put him at odds with presidents. He and Rosemary try to dislodge a church protected pediophile priest. That fails because Cardinal Archbishop Thomas John O'Neill is psychotic and paranoid especially when it comes to protecting one of his own. Chuck and Rosemary have a cause to remove both abominations even as a personal miracle that has not happened to this couple in two decades occurs.

The sixth O'Malley chronicle is an insightful look at the Carter Administration through the eyes of Chucky and Rosemary, alternating chapters. The story line provides a vivid scrutiny while insuring the lead couple feels complete. Chucky suffers from a mid life crisis as he begins to question all he once believed in while Rosemary encourages him to gracefully continue the fight for what both know is right. Andrew Greeley furnishes a delightful charmer that displays how the late 1970s, only twenty-five years ago, feel today like ancient history even to one who lived through it.

Harriet Klausner

reviewed by formula on November 29, 2006 7:18 PM

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add a new book!