The bestselling author of A Midwinter's Tale returns with a heartfelt sequel

Father Andrew M. Greeley returns to the saga of the O'Malley family with his signature blend of humor, classic American values and heart-rending storytelling.

Charles "Chucky" Cronin has come home to Chicago in one piece after a chaotic tour in post WWII Germany. And though his family thinks he's "become a man," Chucky knows he still has a lot of growing up to do. Anxious to attend Notre Dame and get his life back on in order, Chucky is quickly sidetracked by the beautiful, raven-haired, haunting (and haunted) Rosemarie, a girl as fresh-faced and clever as she is doomed. Conflicts with a mob boss and a tendency to ruffle the feathers of those in charge combine to land Chucky in even more hot water. Luckily, a quick wit and an old fashioned sense of right and wrong (along with a dose of Heavenly help) save him when tensions reach the boiling point. Can Chucky come of age in a difficult and heady time, holding on to his integrity while discovering the secret to love?

The leisurely, enjoyable sequel to Greeley's A Midwinter's Tale again follows the O'Malley family of Chicago. Here he chronicles the romantic and spiritual fortunes of returned soldier Chuck O'Malley, who comes home in 1949, having been stationed for two years in postwar Germany. Enrolling in Notre Dame, he finds himself chafing against the narrow intellectual limits of the curriculum, and he also struggles mightily, even self-mockingly, with the sin of lust. The conversational, reflective first-person narration sets a relaxed tone as Chuck, admiring the two-piece bathing suits newly in vogue, develops a passion for photography. The central image, bookending the novel, is a snapshot Chuck takes of beautiful Rosemarie Clancy, the troubled alcoholic daughter of Chuck's father's best friend. The photo of Rosemarie, in d shabill , gets Chuck into trouble at Notre Dame and concatenates his search for spiritual meaning within the strict prohibitions of the Church. Chuck and Rosemarie's lifelong mutual attraction permeates the novel, with Greeley shifting focus in the middle of the book to Chuck's father, John. The elder O'Malley tells of how he met Chuck's mother, and the part Rosemarie's father, Jim Clancy, played in the eventual union. John O'Malley's story is deftly set in the center of Chuck's saga, creating correlative resonances that would be less graceful and harmonious in a single plot line. Greeley conveys a palpable nostalgia, as if each story of love won and lost is simply the latest echo of an earlier story, itself the echo of another. He captures, with signature expertise, both the essence (torturous guilt over sexual longings and transgressions) and the evocative details (students forbidden to read Ulysses, descriptions of women's fortresslike undergarments) of growing up Catholic in the late '40s. By the end, where Greeley skillfully ties up one plot line as he keeps the other aloft for the next book, readers may discover that they, too have been romanced--by an expert storyteller. $100,000 ad/promo. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

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