Father Ralph

by Gerald O'Donovan

corner of some 20 pages have had a bump, otherwise a good clean copy

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 1993

Reviews

[A. Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was out of print, and I was excited to see it reissued, since it's an important book, and thus on my list of titles to find. It's the story of a priest, dedicated to the Church by his mother even before his birth, and O'Donovan himself was a priest (until he left Orders). What I really enjoyed about this book is the variety of characters surrounding Ralph, those in religious and secular communities both. They are of all sorts, genuine, devoted priests and opportunistic, arrogant priests. The novel is a really interesting exploration of an organization most of us will never see from within. Of course, the Roman Catholic Church is like any other organization, having both earnest and corrupt members, but how that organization functioned internally and in a rural community town is interesting reading. The power and workings of the Church in late 19th-century Ireland is worth learning about and understanding, and certainly the novel has an irony given the more recent events of that Church on that island.