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Title: A Good Confession
Author: Bridget Whelan
Narrator: Penelope Freeman
Format: Unabridged
Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
Language: English
Release date: 07-01-09
Publisher: ISIS Audio Books
Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit
Publisher's Summary:
As their friendship develops, Cathleen fears they are growing too close. Hoping that confession will ease her troubled mind, she says the things that can't be said anywhere else - not realising that she is confessing to the man she loves.
When a tragedy forces Cathleen back to Ireland, she must face the truth and accept the consequences of such a forbidden love...
Members Reviews:
This was a good love story set in 1960's London about an Irish ...
This was a good love story set in 1960's London about an Irish widow and a Catholic priest. Although comparable to the Thornbirds, it of course lacked the Austrailian element and the epic scope, but I actually liked it better. It was well-written and fast-paced, had believable characters, and an atmosphere of the time and place. It was a quick read but a good one
A Good Confession, it was not
I just finished this book and I only continued because it was required reading for our book club. Perhaps my Irish/Catholic background slanted my view, but I did not find this either compelling or an unusual take on the subject matter. The "jock" priest, wooing the fragile widow surrounded by the impetous and interferring family is pretty common. There was so much description and so little results of any actions taken by the two lead characters it was hard to believe any of the characters actually existed. While there was plenty of empathy for Cathleen's predicament, a widow with two small girls on hard times, but even she doesn't seem to believe the plot she is cast in. Way too many typical references to what it is to be Irish and/or Catholic leads me to believe the author just made it all up without understanding the underlying motivations of this culture. I certainly was left with what I expect by page 20.
Novel set in Ireland (a perfect snapshot of rural life)
This delightful, read-at-one-go novel provides a perfect snapshot of life in rural Ireland in the early 60âs and also a poignant view of the difficulties faced by Irish migrants coming to London in search of work. A Good Confession is superficially a simple story, well told and easy to read and yet it is also disturbing. For those of us who have lived through the early 60âs, it serves as an unsettling reminder of all that was awful about that period.
The novel opens with a tragedy: young Cathleen Broganâs husband, Mick, dies, leaving her to bring up two young girls in miserable rented rooms in 1960âs London. Mick has been working as a labourer and his death leaves her with virtually no income. Life looks pretty desperate but then Father Jerry, Mickâs cousin, turns up to comfort her. The Irish community regard Father Jerry as something of a saint and it isnât long before Cathleen finds herself growing a bit too fond of him. Seeking comfort from confession, she doesnât realise that she is actually baring her soul to the man she loves.
If this was all there was to this novel, it would be simple indeed but under this haunting story there is a subtext. Whelan manages a very subtle but nonetheless effective criticism of the priesthood. She conveys the way in which priests in that period were revered to the point of idolatry by Catholic communities. Sometimes it makes you laugh, as when Kitty, Cathleenâs mother, gloats over the superiority of Father Jerry to her friendâs family priest, âFather Pius Pity-face in Patagoniaâ.
