<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Story with Good Questions
Review: After reading the terrific review here by "a top 10 reviewer",I find that there is not much more to be said about this charming book.But I will try.... Mary McGreevy upsets the proverbial apple cart when she returns to her Irish village in the 50s and withdraws from the convent where she has been for many years. Soon she is further scandalizing the town by becoming pregnant (was it a coincidence that Keady named this character "Mary"?) without the benefit of marriage. Much of the rest of the book involves the efforts of the townsfolk to discover who is the father. There are several suspects and Keady made me fel like I knew each of them very well, but not well enough to figure out who the father was! To the author's credit, although he raises many questions about the Catholic faith and its doctrines, he never makes fun of it. Nor does he make caricatures of its practitioners or its priests. Glad I read this book....in addition to being Mary's story, it was a charming depiction of Irish village life 50 years ago.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Story with Good Questions
Review: After reading the terrific review here by "a top 10 reviewer",I find that there is not much more to be said about this charming book. But I will try.... Mary McGreevy upsets the proverbial apple cart when she returns to her Irish village in the 50s and withdraws from the convent where she has been for many years. Soon she is further scandalizing the town by becoming pregnant (was it a coincidence that Keady named this character "Mary"?) without the benefit of marriage. Much of the rest of the book involves the efforts of the townsfolk to discover who is the father. There are several suspects and Keady made me fel like I knew each of them very well, but not well enough to figure out who the father was! To the author's credit, although he raises many questions about the Catholic faith and its doctrines, he never makes fun of it. Nor does he make caricatures of its practitioners or its priests. Glad I read this book....in addition to being Mary's story, it was a charming depiction of Irish village life 50 years ago.
Rating: 
Summary: I thought this book was very good.
Review: I enjoyed reading Mary McGreevy. I was wondering to the very end who the father of her baby was. I won't say who the father is, because I don't want to wreck the ending. I thought the author Walter Keady made all the characters come to life. I also enjoyed the Glossary of Irish words located at the end of the book. The story is about a Nun that decides to leave the convent after her father dies. It takes place in the 1950's and Mary McGreevy is a kind of Irish woman libber. She seems ahead of her time, she has lots of spirit. She decides she wants to have a baby, but doesn't see why she should get married. For a while there I was wondering if the author was making the character's name Mary because of the link to Jesus etc.... I also liked the way the author showed how Mary interacted with many different types of people in her community. I think anybody of any faith would enjoy reading this book I know I did.
Rating:
Summary: Mary McGreevy
Review: I really enjoyed the book! I found the title merely by accident. Imagine typing in your own name and finding out that someone has written a book with your name as the title! I bought the book just to see what the story was about. The similarities between Mary's personality and mine really made her realistic to me. Mr. Keady really keeps you interested in solving the mystery of paternity. All of the characters are very realistic and intriguing. I have both paperback and hardcover. It was also interesting to read that the author lives in the same state as I do. Readers will find the book entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Catholics BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: It's not my favorite book of all times but it did strike up my curiosity and make me think. Being a Catholic I could see all the points being made and understand a lot of why Mary did what she did growing up and going to the convent and her choices for leaving. Also, somewhat like Mary I wanted a child at any lengths and if I were to never get married I would've done exactly what she did. In the 1990's it just wasn't as much of a scandel as the 1950's. It also brought up a lot of valid challenges against the Catholic church as well as pointing out that things aren't much different with time. The Catholic church is still the same although women are some what of a more active now. If you are looking for something that questions faith and argues for and against it this is the book to pick up. Even though I wasn't overly pleased with the book I did get caught up in it BUT in the same sense I wanted it to end.
Rating:
Summary: ENTERTAINING -- ALTERNATELY HUMOROUS AND POIGNANT
Review: Let me state first of all that this novel was a good read - I wouldn't put it in the same class as some other Irish writers I admire (such as William Trevor and Sebastian Barry), but Keady seems to have a knack for a good, interesting story, peopled with an array of (mostly) likeable, idiosyncratic characters. The questions that naturally arise from the storyline - a nun leaving her convent and giving up her vows to take over the farm left to her by her recently-deceased father, then intentionally getting pregnant out of wedlock, with no intention of getting married - are important and valid ones. Set in 1950, in rural Ireland, one doesn't have to imagine very far to understand that the Church frowned mightily at such goings-on - and even within the Church itself, the reactions to Mary McGreevy's 'scandalous' behavior vary a great deal. Some of the Clergy are sympathetic and understanding - some are livid and vindictive. The character of Mary herself is an admirable one - many years ahead of her time, so to speak. She's a strong-willed, intelligent woman, bound and determined to do everything her own way. She's also possessed of a kind heart - and those of her neighbors who can see past her non-traditional path to motherhood recognize her as a good person, and do their best to be her friend. Again, given the time and place, that's not always easy to do. Keady draws the characters well, but after a while, their 'Irishness' seems to be laid on a little thick - and the story, as heartwarming and thought-provoking as it is, tends to run in a rut as predictable as you might find in a rural Irish lane. Maybe I just 'got lucky', but I saw the revelation at the end coming a mile away. These are admittedly relatively minor complaints - and they certainly won't keep me from recommending this novel. Try it - I'll wager you'll find yourself smiling a good bit of the while...
Rating:
Summary: A Note Of Caution, But Spectacular Writing
Review: The only caution is for Devout Catholics or practitioners of the Faith that do not believe the church can be questioned much less be wrong, and definitely not for people that don't see humor in religious debate. If this does not stop you from picking up this book, you are in for a wonderful tale. If you are reading this having read, "Celibates And Other Lovers", by the same Author Walter Keady, the fun will be all the more enjoyable. Miss. Mcgreevy is as unconventional a woman as you can imagine for a small Irish Town in the early 1950's. In fact as it is pointed out, were the time a century or so sooner a wooden stake and flames would have been waiting for her. In this case her trials are confined to the Human Nature of a small town, and while infuriating at times it is generally shown to be what it is, much ado about nothing. For there are very few who have any direct involvement at all, and with one painful exception neither Mary nor anyone else is victimized by her. The pain comes from those in the town who know nothing, and are willing to put careers and reputations at risk for their own amusement, which they of course cloak in piety they feel they so surely posses, and in truth are totally bereft of its influence. They are not alone as the higher-level executives of the Church have made their mark and have climbed the ecclesiastical organizational chart with the same-clouded self-view. The Author does a great job of running multiple threads that have Rome happily dispensing annulments, excusing those who have taken perpetual vows, and then turning to the day to day practices that shows the hypocrisy that Miss. Mcgreevy is only to happy to point out. At times her debates with a Priest are a riot, as her knowledge of Aristotle, Sarte, and a variety of male Old Testament figures, "who begat children", outside of matrimony makes for brilliant dialogue. They are many who will take issue with the Author's views and those characters that he uses to express them. In so far as the book clashes with their held beliefs they have every right to do so. However when the Author brings this book to its resolution, and I do mean the final sentences, he leaves you with some huge philosophical/theological issues that are as deserving of attention today as they were the first time they were questioned. An absolutely wonderful tale written by an Author with an ear for dialogue, a pen that holds a bit of controversy, and a nimble mind of depth that makes the debates valid.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Strong Woman...
Review: The title character of Walter Keady's novel is a strong women who resists the pressures of the Catholic Church as vehemently as she does those of small town gossips. As a former nun circa 1950 who becomes pregnant, and refuses to name the father, Mary McGreevy is decades ahead of her time. The results of her actions are simultaneously comical and infuriating. While some of her best friends suffer the consequences of her choices, they stick by her and are all the better for it. "Mary McGreevy" is a wonderful book that I would recommend very highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Mary McGreevy
Review: This is an charming tale about the title character, who leaves the convent and takes over the running of a farm left by her late father. The characters are an eccentric group, each with their own idiosyncracies. Outside of marriage, Mary becomes intentionally pregnant, with no desire for a husband. The main story line stems from the townspeople's natural desire to know who the father is, and the ensuing gossip and irrational behaviors that will accompany emotion.
Unfortunately, the characters largely are too: good, forgiving, generous, honest, hateful, selfish, etc. Frequent marriage proposals fly without benefit of courting, forgiveness comes without a description of the angst of deep hurt, men are driven easily to distraction by the sight of a pretty ankle or the vision of a mother nursing her baby. In a day when the Catholic church is in such turmoil, the book stirs up more questions than answers. Some may see this as the mark of a good tale. Rather, I find little empathy for the main character who is made to capture the reader's heart, all the while causing much pain in her small Irish town.
<< 1 >>
| 
