Green Journey

This is a poignant and beautifully characterized novel. Agatha, a teacher in her mid-60's, is a friend and mentor to many. However, she is lonely in her own life and develops a cor- respondence/friendship with James, an Irish man. Agatha's feelings become romanticized. When she travels to Ireland to meet James, she finds that he has misrepresented himself, omitting the fact that he is a priest. The novel explores Agatha's relationship with her Bishop, neighbors, and young women friends as she struggles with her own pride and grief after meeting James. I highly recommend this book.

i like this book very much.every time i read it i discover new things. i didn't find it at all similar to the mitford series. it is a bittersweet story, but very touching and very realistic. it is one of the best books i've read. there's something quite special about it..... i hope you'll find out what that is when you read it.

A friend recommended that I read Jon Hassler, and it isn't very often that I find an author whose work just blows me away. A Green Journey, my first Hassler book, ranks up there as one of my new favorites. Hassler is a wonderful observer of small-town America, and A Green Journey begins in Staggerford, Minnesota. Agatha McGee, a 68 year-old parochial school teacher, anchors this novel. This no-nonsense, orthodox spinster is as feisty as she is inflexible. "Every time Rome announced some new accommodation to a century that was already two thirds gone, Agatha felt betrayed. Her heart had already been broken countless times since Vatican II, for it was not too much to say that Agatha loved the Church of her girlhood above everything else in the world." Yet, Agatha could be full of surprises--as when she takes in the pregnant teenager and former student, Janet Raft. Raft is a "hardscrabble" motherless girl from a poor farming family, but McGee sees promise in this bright teen. Unfortunately, McGee's world is threatened when her diocese is assigned a new bishop, Dick Baker. Bishop Baker is set upon making many changes to the traditions McGee holds dear. The two quickly become adversaries. The diocese sponsors a trip to Ireland, and McGee and Baker sign on with ulterior motives. McGee has an Irish pen-pal, Jim O'Hannon. She senses that O'Hannon might be her last chance for romance. Baker is looking for Irish priests to move to Minnesota, but in reality, he is trying to befriend McGee and convince her to take on a new job. Raft is also on the trip. The journey was supposed to be her honeymoon, but her husband backs out. These three make an unlikely trio, and there are some major disappointments for all of them. I very much like Jon Hassler's writing style, his character development and the way he paces his plot. He definitely has a sense of the absurd, and I really had to chuckle at the confirmation scene, as well as when the bishop thought he was poisoned by mushrooms. Hassler also has his finger on the pulse of Staggerford. He describes the parish priest as being "of middling intelligence serving a parish of middling spiritual and financial resources and determined to keep to the middle of the road." How true of most small towns. I was disappointed to discover that Jon Hassler passed away on March 20th, 2008. But thank goodness he left behind a rich body of work that can still be enjoyed. I understand that Hassler uses Agatha McGee in his novel, Staggerford, which I am anxious to read. I can only hope that all of his books are as good as A Green Journey.

Agatha is a wonderful character and Jon Hassler is one of our best novelists. His books are highly readable while being intelligent at the same time. You will feel like you made the journey to Ireland with her, but I preferred the parts set in the U.S. This book is not two-dimensional like the Mitford novel that I attempted to read and could get only halfway through. There is humor, excellent characterization, natural dialogue, and believable behavior. All of Jon Hassler's books are excellent, but the books which feature Agatha are his best.

This is my favorite Hassler book. It is an excellent story with interesting characters that keep you entertained throughout the book. This book followed by Dear James makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read.