5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Woman's Challenge, May 25, 2009
Imagine the career barriers a woman faced in 1885. Imagine the reluctance of males to allow her to be schooled in medicine and to become a doctor. Such a struggle is one of the themes in Irish Tweed.
Andrew Greeley alters his formula slightly in Irish Tweed. Usually, novels in the Nuala Anne series involve two mysteries, one current and one legendary. In Irish Tweed, Greeley presents current and ancestral stories that are not really mysteries in the classic sense. The two stories are delightful plot lines of family oriented tales where Greeley weaves an ancestral and current story together in a seamless narrative.
The modern story involves a battle within the post Vatican II Roman Catholic Church. Many people are confused. The laity knows about new church teachings, social action programs such as care for poor citizens, and lay leadership. But the clerics are not leading and the "faithful" are acting independently.
In the contemporary story, Nuala, Dermot and their four impressive children become involved in a battle over the parish school. They challenge a school principal and pastor who have misinterpreted Vatican Council teachings in ways harmful to the children. Much of the fighting is humourous, but this theme surfaces a serious parish crisis in the modern church. As usual, the interactions among the members of Nuala's family and friends are amusing and often funny.
I especially liked the "legendary" story of Angela. Angela Agnes Tierney is orphaned in Ireland and is sent to live with American cousins. Angela is a bright child and flourishes in Chicago. This theme has very likable characters, people who actually love without condition, in the manner they see God's love for them. I enjoyed seeing the development of a woman destined to be ahead of her times. Angela is a girl, in the 1880s, wanting to learn, to be schooled, and to be a physician. The manner in which she overcomes her obstacles is fascinating.
In Irish Tweed, Greeley displays his talent for verbalizing normal human feelings. He shows the anxiety couples feel through courtship; the curiosity, the reluctance, the fear of making a mistake. In the case of Angela, could the man she loves find her attractive? How could he love her since she feels inadequate. These scenes are so typical of many lovers and so well phrased that we remember how we felt. Greeley pictures the grand feelings of being in love, of having your beloved accept you and want to be with you. Greeley helps us feel the awe, the feeling of unworthiness, the fear of potential loss of the one of your dreams.
Irish Tweed is one of the better Nuala Anne stories, I recommend it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A little fey goes a long way, March 16, 2009
As in all of Father Andrew Greeley's Nuala Ann McGrail novels, this one is funny, heartwarming, insightful, and romantic. He's in top form with this one, while Nuala Ann is trying to solve some evil going on in the 21st century she's also uncovering an memoir of a late 19th and early 20th century immigrant from Ireland, a young lady adopted by a Chicago family who becomes a Doctor.
There is no better storyteller than Father Greeley, his accounts of this rare Chicago family who's characters are so warm and loving and devoted to one another are top notch. And it doesn't hurt that this Chicago Irishman adds just a touch of fey to this wonderful piece of fiction. His dialogue along with his tale is what really sets this book apart from others in it's genre, he adds just enough of the West of Ireland dialect to keep it off the beaten path. His outlook on married physical love and the roles in the family must make him an excellent marriage/family counselor in his every day vocation as a parish priest.
I think any lover of great fiction would love this novel.
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