Customer Reviews

Irish Linen: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Irish Linen is not a bad book; it just lacks freshness, excitement. I love this series, but I would put this book as my least favorite. I had a very hard time reading Irish Linen, in fact I set it down twice in order to read, finish and review two other books; I have never done that before. My main problem with this book was while reading it I had a vague sense of Déjà vu.

Nuala and Dermot get 'hired' by some parents to find their missing adult son, Des, who has flown to Iraq. While investigating his whereabouts they discover a memoir in the church basement. The memoir is written by a man named Tim Ridgeland, an Irish ambassador to Germany during WWII. Normally, the historical aspects of Mr. Greeley's stories are linked to the present day stories. I really felt the link between these two stories was weak at best. Des was supposed to be in Iraq for Peace, but I saw it as more of a culture visit.

Dermot acts like an adolescent in his thoughts and actions regarding a certain part of his wife's anatomy. He reminds me of a teenage boy with his first look at the female body. Their love scenes always seem a bit silly and childish to me. Then we have Tim and his Annalise professing love almost immediately after meeting, it was a bit ridiculous.

The ending of the book seemed a bit rushed, in both the historical and present stories. Locating and rescuing Des from Iraq was rather far fetched and anticlimactic; in fact Mr. Greeley himself starts the last chapter by saying just that.

I did enjoy the relationship between the fictional ambassador and his friend, the real life Claus Graf Von Strauffenburg. I thought Mr. Greeley did an excellent job of blending historical fact with fiction.

After all the other books in this series, I was anxious and a little impatient to read the next one. After reading this book I am rather contentedly and patiently awaiting the next one.

This series has been getting better and better. The 10th and latest volume is thoroughly engrossing, both in the contemporary and the historic sections. The fact that the blend of contemporary and historical narratives has become a bit of a formula for Greeley is finding new strengths in the rather subtle linking of the stories in this volume.

I would heartily recommend this volume to all.

When a young Irish American soldier goes missing in Iraq, it falls to Dermot Coyne and his adoring, sensible, fey wife, Nualla McGraill, to do what they can to see about making sure he gets home safely. As per usual, they find that their present difficulty might have answers in the past, in this instance, the love story of another young Irishman and the beauty he fell for in Pre World War II Germany. As the two stories play out, truths are uncovered in a delightful fashion.

**** Reading Andrew Greeley is like putting on your favorite, comfy clothes and curling up by the fire. His gentle story telling style will make you swear he's a new incarnation of Taliesin, or some other Irish bard. Old friends reappear, reassuring you that they are still well and alive in his mind. Throughout the narrative, a lesson is given, but not in a preachy fashion, at all. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day or any day at all by giving yourself this treat. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer.

Greeley does such a great job of creating historical back story. This time he weaves a tale of two "glinty-eyed" Irishmen together in a way that you really don't even mind the chatter of Nuala's spear-carrier husband, Dermot. Having those fey women in my own family, I understand how he feels nevertheless. Nuala and her brood can be hilarious at one turn and mauldlin the next. Life is never dull. It's Nuala's determination to "fix" anything that offends her sense of rightness. You have to love her fight and how Greeley deftly drops his politics into the fray.

The two stories don't parallel as well as some of the previous novels, and that's the only fault I find. Still, the story of Timmy and his lady in war-ravaged Berlin will bring an Irish smile to just about any face.

Okay, it's not Joyce or Yeats, but it's damned good fun.

Idealist peace lover Desmond Doolin is missing somewhere in the Middle East, probably Iraq where his Chicago based family last heard from him. The US government does what it does best, deny knowing anything about what happened to Desmond or if he is even alive. Having heard nothing for several weeks, his grieving family assumes he is dead.

Part-time psychic Nuala Anne McGrail finds out that fellow Windy City resident Desmond vanished without a trace somewhere allegedly in the Middle East. While everyone else concludes he was murdered, she believes he remains alive. She persuades her spouse Dermot Michael Coyne, who trusts her instincts, that they must follow the missing man's path both in the Middle East and with the Catholic Church.

The investigation into Desmond's disappearance engages readers, as Nuala Anne's psychic power keeps her and Dermot believing the young man is alive; he especially has come a long way from the earlier tales. However, a memoir written by an Irish diplomat to Nazi Germany that the lead couple is reading is also fascinating but distracts from the prime plot though it makes some interesting muses like "Wars are easier to start than to end". Still this is an intriguing thriller starring an interesting obstinate protagonist.

Harriet Klausner

This installment of the adventures of Nuala Anne McGrail is particularly interesting to me. Usually Nuala Anne novels present both a current mystery and a historical one. In Irish Linen, the historical situation involves Germany in 1930-1945. I was stationed in Germany for 3 years so, for me that was like reliving parts of my experience. The current situation, the search for the runaway son of a prominent family, is set in Chicago where I was stationed three times. I like Chicago.

There are three elements that I will discuss: The development of the Coyne family, the setting and characters for the historical tale, and a few short references to the two puzzles.

Irish Linen immerses me again in the delightful Coyne family. Nuala Anne has gained some confidence in her abilities as a detective, an entertainer, and a wife and mother. Dermot is often as clueless with Nuala as many males are with their sweetheart and spouses. The children are rapidly maturing, with Nelliecoyne becoming mature well beyond her eight years, while "the Mick" is still a quiet boy. Socra Marie has blossomed into a very effective "terrorist" with the frequent energy of several people. The new edition, Patjo (Patrick Joseph in English) is a pleasant and cute child.

The historical tale tells the story of Timothy Patrick Ridgewood, his friends Claus Graf von Stauffenberg, and Annalise von Sternberg. Timothy, while studying in Germany, meets Claus and they become friends. Claus introduces Timothy to Annalise, an orphaned girl about 16, with the hope that he will fall in love with her and rescue her from life in Hitler's Reich.

Later Tim returns to Germany as the Irish Ambassador. The events of Hitler's arming of Germany and his strategy for war are told to Timothy by Claus and by Admiral Canaris, a German noble stationed in German Intelligence. Neither the Admiral or Claus believe in Hitler and his policies. The stress among the characters in Hitler's Germany make for an exciting story. Will anyone stand up to Hitler? Will those who are against the Nazi authorities survive? Will Timothy develop a meaningful relationship with Annalise?

The current mystery is an intriguing story of family dynamics. Is the son really missing or simply rebelling from his parents? Nuala Anne and Dermot interview witnesses who contradict each other and sometimes even contradict themselves. The resolution of the puzzle is rather satisfying to Andrew Greeley fans.

Irish Linen is a fine story in an exciting setting. I recommend it, especially for those who enjoy experiencing historical Germany.

This was a very enjoyable read although the story in the past, Irish Ambassador to Nazi Germany, had very little to do with the current problem of a lost person, I don't want to give too much away. Greeley is slowly joining his two main series, Nuala Anne and Blackie Ryan; this was very nicely handled and there was at least a hint in my mind of a future story back in Ireland.

Andrew Greeley is one of my favorite authors. His quirky characters live for me and Nuala Anne McGrail and her Dermitt and their children are some of my favorites. I have a real problem putting them down. I find the conbination of historical mysteries woven around a "contemporary" one fascinating. Please Father Greeley may I have some more.

Irish Linen is another charming interlude with the feisty Nuala Anne McGrail and her adoring husband Dermot Coyne. Dermot is researching the history of the Irish ambassador in Germany during World War II, and Nuala is trying to determine the whereabouts of a fellow Irishman from Chicago, Desmond Doolin, who has gone missing somewhere in Iraq and is presumed dead. The two parallel stories are unrelated other than the Irish-ness of the main characters, however both stories are interesting in their own right. I particularly enjoyed the historical background of the Irish ambassador in Germany. However, the fact that these stories are told in alternating chapters and are essentially unrelated seems to indicate that the contemporary story (the search for Desmond) is not meaty enough to sustain a complete novel in itself.

As in all Greeley novels in this series, the characters are charming and likeable, the language is peppered with Irish phrases, and there is an undercurrent of theology adapted to modern times.

Father Greeley is inarguably one of the most prolific writers of our time. Wikipedia lists 80 non-fiction and 60 non-fiction works. "Irish Linen" is the 10th in the Nuala Ann McGrail "Irish" series. The O'Malley clan is also featured in 6 other novels. I eagerly await each new publication, as it takes the writer into a world surrounded by the charm, luck, culture and language of the Irish, filled with intrigue and insights into modern issues and problems.

Fans now have their tenth novel following the lives of Dermot and Nuala, rich and talented Chicago Irish Catholics who solve mysteries in both the present and the past in each outing. If there is anything surprising here, it is the historical section, which shows us Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who tried to blow up Hitler and end World War II a year earlier than it actually took. This is timely, because Tom Cruise is currently in Germany making a film about Stauffenberg's tragedy. And the WWII love affair this time around is actually more interesting than what Nuala and Dermot are doing in the present. This series requires a suspension of belief, as all novels do, and an interest in Catholicism or Chicago or the Irish (past and present). As a person currently going through an unwanted divorce, I got emotional in a couple of places near the end, because the kind of love and marriage and family created by Dermot and Nuala is the idealized dream that many of us have not been able to sustain. In some ways, I am a sucker for sappy love stories, and I suppose that isn't macho, but this couple makes me envy them and covet their romantic skills.