Product Description

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. . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #401148 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 357 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Greeley’s irrepressible and fiercely liberal O’Malley family carries on lustily in this sixth chronicle of their adventures. Charles (usually Chuck, often Chucky, and even Chucky Ducky, none of which names he objects to) is a former foreign ambassador under Jack Kennedy, a Ph.D. in economics and a world-famous photographer. Rosemarie, his wife, is a recovered alcoholic, now a successful New Yorker writer, but more important to her, a mom and grandma. Trading chapters, they describe their busy life in Rome in the late 1970s, where Chuck’s role is to photograph the new pope. In 1978, there were three popes: Paul VI died; his successor, John Paul I, also expired, after only a brief period; and John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in centuries, was elected. Greeley’s knowledge of the intrigues and suspense behind the elections produces a graphic firsthand account (he is the author of the nonfiction book The Making of the Popes 1978). After the election, Chuck’s career as a photographer (he refers to himself modestly as a "fast-talking punk from the West Side of Chicago who takes pictures") comes to the fore, as the Art Institute gives him a major show. The show is a success (despite—or because of—the scandal caused by an innocently revealing photo of Rosemarie), but Chuck is assailed by self-doubt, then nearly dies of pneumonia. In a sentimental but poignant scene, a serene, perhaps heavenly lady visits Chuck and reassures him that he is a good man. This is more comfort food for Catholics, though newcomers to the series may be taken aback by Chuck and Rosemarie’s mildly explicit lovemaking.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Greeley, a Roman Catholic priest, is also one of this country's most popular writers of light-romance novels. His books are usually sagas, each one detailing the lives of one or another of the fictional Irish American families that Greeley's fans have come to know and love. In his current series, he chronicles the O'Malleys of Chicago, an irrepressible Irish American clan. Previous novels in the O'Malley saga follow the family from World War II through the 1960; in this installation, Charles "Chucky" O'Malley and his spirited family face the 1970s. Here we find Chucky approaching 50 and stuck in a vicious midlife and spiritual crisis. While O'Malley can count his blessings--an adoring wife, an amazing sex life, a prestigious career, and a large, happy family--he still feels unfulfilled. In addition, he is no longer able to take comfort in his faith. As a photographer of some importance, O'Malley travels the world snapping historical photos and searching for his own happiness. However, it is in his loving family and his devoted wife that he ultimately finds what he has been looking for. In typical Greeley style, this novel is a bit on the corny side; however he has many fans who consume his novels like candy. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Balanced by gentle humor and remarkable details."

Customer Reviews

A great love story!
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

Very nice!
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.

insightful look at the Carter Administration
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