First published 1991
Father Hugh Kennedy steps off the train in Boston, carrying the weight of his failed priesthood and his battle with alcohol. The recovering alcoholic priest has come home to start over, to find some way back to the man he once was. But Boston pulls him into the chaotic orbit of the Carmodys, a wealthy Irish family whose success masks deep fractures. The family sprawls across the city with their money, their secrets, and their endless complications. As Father Kennedy navigates their world of hidden passions and old wounds, he finds himself caught between his own spiritual emptiness and their very human needs. The Carmodys demand things from him he is not sure he can give. His faith feels distant, his calling uncertain. Yet in this unlikely place, among these flawed and desperate people, something begins to shift. Grace arrives quietly, almost without notice, transforming loneliness into connection and spiritual drought into the first drops of renewal.
Genres: literary-fiction, christian-fiction, american-fiction, addiction, 20th-century, contemporary, family-drama, catholic
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-redemption, fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Boston
Period: 20th-century
460 pages · Hardcover · Thomas More Pr
Content warnings: addiction, alcohol-abuse