Second Spring

Father Andrew M. Greeley, one of America's best-loved and most widely read novelists, has delighted readers with his ongoing chronicles of the crazy O'Malleys, a rambunctious but resourceful Irish-American family caught up in the sweep of modern American history. The previous novels in the saga--A Midwinter's Tale, Younger than Springtime, A Christmas Wedding, and September Song--have taken the O'Malleys of Chicago from the aftermath of World War II through the tumultuous upheavals of the sixties. Now, in Second Spring, Charles "Chucky" O'Malley and his growing clan face the promise and pitfalls of the late seventies. 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 midlife crisis. Although he has much to be thankful for, including a loving wife and a thriving career as a professional photographer, he does not feel like a success. He hasn't lost his faith, exactly, but he does feel disillusioned and depressed. As he travels the world, from the Vatican, where a new pope is to be selected, to Jimmy Carter's White House, where an overwhelmed president struggles to find a cure for his nation's malaise, 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. . . .