Irish Stew
- Book Review,
by Andrew M. Greeley
From Publishers Weekly
The prolific cleric plops his psychic singer heroine and her family into a delicious stew of trouble in his latest crowd pleaser. The "fey" Nuala (last seen in 2001's Irish Love) senses that self-made Chicago lawyer and tough guy Seamus Costelloe is doomed after meeting him at a Milan music festival. Nuala persuades her beloved husband, Dermot, that they must find out why in time to prevent tragedy. Back in the Windy City, Dermot pursues the true cause of the century-old Haymarket Riot, while Nuala gives premature birth to their latest angel, Socra Marie, who has to spend several weeks in the neonatal ICU. Dermot does much of the legwork as Nuala recuperates and focuses on the baby, though her maternal duties don't stop her from running the show. The immigrant condition is very much on their minds, in both past and present investigations, and even life at home is affected by the hardships and prejudices encountered by new arrivals, especially in ethnically complex Chicago. There's a lot to keep straight in this one. When he isn't trying to help Nuala save Costelloe, Dermot is reading transcripts of the Haymarket trial and period newspaper articles, especially those penned by journalist Ned Fitzpatrick, who reported on the riot and its aftermath. Portions of Ned's diary, set in italic, can be slow going. Greeley lays the Irish on a bit thick for some tastes, but the double plot is rich with detail, while the couple's earnestness and good intentions are never in question. (Mar. 14)Forecast: National TV advertising on Lifetime, as well as national advertising and targeting to Irish publications, will ensure a strong start circa St. Patrick's Day.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Greeley's fans, and there are many, will appreciate and enjoy this new addition to his popular Nuala Anne McGrail mystery series. Nuala and her devoted husband, Dermot, are amateur crime solvers, often finding themselves in sticky situations and surviving by use of their innate cleverness (with a little help from Nuala's powers of extrasensory perception). In this book, set at an international music festival in Milan, the McGrails really have their hands full. Not only are there demands on Nuala professionally (in addition to sleuthing, she is an international singing star), they must also solve the mystery surrounding one Seamus Costelloe, whose sinister personage is doomed according to Nuala's ESP. As usual with Greeley's fiction, there is a Chicago connection; in addition to everything else going on, Dermot tries to solve the 100-year-old mystery of who started the Haymarket riot. A light, entertaining read sure to delight Greeley's fans. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“Father Greeley has given great attention to the role of imagination in the life of faith. What he is doing is re-evangelizing the imagination, using fiction to address the faith and the mysteries of the faith. That’s an extraordinarily significant project.”—Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago
“Nobody has ever left the church because of an Andrew Greeley novel, but many have been attracted back to it by him.”—Reverend Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I.
Review
“Father Greeley has given great attention to the role of imagination in the life of faith. What he is doing is re-evangelizing the imagination, using fiction to address the faith and the mysteries of the faith. That’s an extraordinarily significant project.”—Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago
“Nobody has ever left the church because of an Andrew Greeley novel, but many have been attracted back to it by him.”—Reverend Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I.
Review
“Father Greeley has given great attention to the role of imagination in the life of faith. What he is doing is re-evangelizing the imagination, using fiction to address the faith and the mysteries of the faith. That’s an extraordinarily significant project.”—Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago
“Nobody has ever left the church because of an Andrew Greeley novel, but many have been attracted back to it by him.”—Reverend Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I.
Book Description
A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel by the bestselling author of Irish Love
Nuala Anne McGrail, the enthralling heroine of Irish Love, returns, along with her devoted husband Dermot, to lend her second sight and irrepressible personality to another savory concoction made up of equal parts of love, humor, and intrigue.
You’d think Nuala and Dermot would have enough to worry about, what with their brand-new baby daughter being born three months premature, but Nuala’s fey gifts aren’t about to go on maternity leave just because little Socra Marie needs more care and loving attention than the average newborn. Soon enough Nuala, and therefore Dermot, find themselves steered toward no less than two unresolved mysteries:
Someone is trying to kill Seamus Costelloe, a bigshot lawyer from the South Side of Chicago. Nuala already sees the mark of death upon Seamus. Can she and Dermot somehow find a way to avert her fatal premonition?
Equally compelling is the puzzle of Chicago’s infamous Haymarket Riot, which may be even harder to solve—given that took place over a century ago!
About the Author
A native of Chicago, Reverend Andrew M. Greeley, is a priest, distinguished sociologist and bestselling author. He is professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona, as well as Research Associate at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. His current sociological research focuses on current issues facing the Catholic Church-including celibacy of priests, ordination of women, religious imagination, and sexual behavior of Catholics.
Father Greeley received the S.T.L. in 1954 from St. Mary of Lake Seminary. His graduate work was done at the University of Chicago, where he received the M.A. Degree in 1961 and the Ph.D. in 1962.
Father Greeley has written scores of books and hundreds of popular and scholarly articles on a variety of issues in sociology, education and religion. His column on political, church and social issues is carried by the carried by the Chicago Sun Times and may other newspapers. He stimulates discussion of neglected issues and often anticipates sociological trends. He is the author of more than thirty bestselling novels and an autobiography, Furthermore!: Confessions of a Parish Priest.
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