Irish Stew!: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Andrew M. Greeley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2003 | Series: Nuala Anne McGrail Novels

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!

Editorial Reviews

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.

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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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (March 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812576071
• ISBN-13: 978-0812576078
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars " Premature" Love, May 18, 2008

By 

W. Easley "Opa" (Colorado Rocky Mountains) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Irish Stew!: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Andrew Greeley begins this novel with a celebration of love. We are introduced to Socra Marie, a less than one pound premature baby

with a determination to live. Against medical advice the parents, Naula Anne McGrail and Dermot Coyne, decide to keep the child alive and she becomes the center of a family love fest. Greeley provides a testament to the wonders of modern medical science where such a child only twenty years ago would have been called a miscarriage and the parents left to grieve the loss of a child.

Irish Stew is one of the Naula Anne McGrail series, which chronicles the lives and adventures of Naula and her husband Dermot. Every story contains mysteries which Naula investigates, usually by using her psychic senses. Each story absorbs the reader in the growing Coyne family and their increasing devotion to each other.

Socra Marie is their third child. They also have two very accomplished Irish wolfhounds.

Irish Stew highlights the historical Haymarket riot of 1886. The contemporary characters, using a diary that provides flashbacks, investigate the riot. Although the story is fictionalized, the major players and incidents of the Haymarket events are real. Greeley's presentation is entertaining and intriguing. The characters he describes are realistic and captivating. This is a fun way to review history.

The Haymarket scenes share another love story that began in Irish Love.

Irish Love (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) Ned Fitzpatrick, while in Ireland , began a loving relationship with Nora, a very poor widow. Although he knew that she did not love him, he married her and brought her to America to protect her and her baby. In Irish Stew their relationship continues and, slowly, she begins to love him. Ned and Nora are delightful people.

I have read all of the previous novels in this series, and liked them all. This one communicates a selfless love. I recommend Irish Stew, it is a refreshing tale of benevolent love and social justice. It is a great family love story and an exciting historical mystery.

5.0 out of 5 stars This series is a Greeley Masterpiece!, July 24, 2011

By 

WAbac (Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Irish Stew!: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel (Nuala Anne McGrail Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a long time fan of Andrew M Greeley, but I must admit I cheated and checked the books out from the library first. I knew I would re-read them so I ordered the entire set. I love the dual mysteries being solved by this husband and wife team, one puzzle from the past, one from the present and how they intersect. I also love their extended family and group of friends. READ THE SERIES FROM THE BEGINNING IN SEQUENCE.