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RAG Books
Keeping Faith
Keeping Faith
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On the eve of the Cuban missile crisis, an American graduate student in Classics takes a job as an Army meteorological observer in a high altitude station on the German-Czech border. Eva Landry needs time to finish her dissertation, and she needs the money.
On the eve of the Second Vatican Council, an American theologian, uncertain of his vocation to the priesthood, sets off for a week of mountain trekking. Tony Healy needs time and silence to rediscover his purpose.
They meet, they love, they quarrel and separate. But historical forces do not respect the inner turmoil of individuals, and they find themselves embroiled in accusations of international espionage. Intercepted by Czech and Russian troops, they escape across a wintry pass with the reluctant complicity of an enemy officer whose allegiances are less than clear.
Eva wins a fellowship to study in Rome. Tony, on the other hand, is sent home in disgrace, until the appearance of his book makes him a superstar of the spiritual publishing industry, and he returns to the Council as a celebrity commentator.
When the enigmatic Czech officer shows up again and yet again in the West as a fugitive, then as a priest, and then, possibly, as an assassin, Eva discovers that she lacks the analytical tools to sort out reality from fantasy. And when a bishop dies suddenly at the Council and the nun who did his housekeeping mumbles suggestions of murder, Tony learns that even the Church is not immune from Cold War pressures.
Tallmadge weaves a complex story in which the lives of her all-too-fallible protagonists are intertwined with the tumultuous events of 1962 and 1963, with the Cuban missile crisis, the Vatican Council and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. She knows the corridors of power in the Church, in the academy and in the Foreign Service. And she leaves tantalizing hints of more intrigues to come. The observant reader suspects that not all is yet revealed.
Healy and Landry deserve a place among the great investigative teams of mystery writing. They are witty, involved – and each of them has ideals and loves that keep them apart. The irresolvable tension between the two gives life to their story and delight to their public.
On the eve of the Second Vatican Council, an American theologian, uncertain of his vocation to the priesthood, sets off for a week of mountain trekking. Tony Healy needs time and silence to rediscover his purpose.
They meet, they love, they quarrel and separate. But historical forces do not respect the inner turmoil of individuals, and they find themselves embroiled in accusations of international espionage. Intercepted by Czech and Russian troops, they escape across a wintry pass with the reluctant complicity of an enemy officer whose allegiances are less than clear.
Eva wins a fellowship to study in Rome. Tony, on the other hand, is sent home in disgrace, until the appearance of his book makes him a superstar of the spiritual publishing industry, and he returns to the Council as a celebrity commentator.
When the enigmatic Czech officer shows up again and yet again in the West as a fugitive, then as a priest, and then, possibly, as an assassin, Eva discovers that she lacks the analytical tools to sort out reality from fantasy. And when a bishop dies suddenly at the Council and the nun who did his housekeeping mumbles suggestions of murder, Tony learns that even the Church is not immune from Cold War pressures.
Tallmadge weaves a complex story in which the lives of her all-too-fallible protagonists are intertwined with the tumultuous events of 1962 and 1963, with the Cuban missile crisis, the Vatican Council and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. She knows the corridors of power in the Church, in the academy and in the Foreign Service. And she leaves tantalizing hints of more intrigues to come. The observant reader suspects that not all is yet revealed.
Healy and Landry deserve a place among the great investigative teams of mystery writing. They are witty, involved – and each of them has ideals and loves that keep them apart. The irresolvable tension between the two gives life to their story and delight to their public.
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